The Sensible Centre Origin Story

How it began...

It started out as a chance meeting at a political event with 2 people siting next to each other and having no clue who each other were (Her: An inspirational, compassionate, political genius, Him: A dad wanting to leave this world a better place for his son).

Casual conversation ensued while listening to others sell themselves for a position of branch president for a local party.

A single question started a conversation between the two people that extended to further conversation over a cigarette about the direction of Australian politics and how both major parties had strayed from their foundation principles over time, with the current direction more focused on what each had to do to gain the vote of fringe elements and the vocal minority stance at the time.

The conversation went in many directions but seemed to come back to a simple motivator of most elected representatives, what lip service can they pay to the Australian public to get the vote so the incumbents can keep their well-paying positions and pick up the fringe votes.

The result of the initial reaction led to the conversation of how can we get the major parties back on track and give the term “public servant” focus (that this title’s meaning has long been forgotten).

This part of the conversation raised more questions than answers…. Do we try to change from within, better still is it actually possible to change from within given the blind following of the many.

The challenge was the Australian public and political culture, we as a majority are inherently lazy when it comes to politics. Generational alliance to a particular party is what we see as the base vote in an election with the swinging voters making the difference, then we have the fringe parties who will never actually win Government (those very vocal minorities wanting leverage to sway the major parties to get their vote and are rewarded in kind for their support).

Here in lays the issue, with the way the current system works…. The Government doesn’t actually respect the major populous and rely on the generational follower effect while pandering to fringe groups that shapes policy effecting everyone like it or not.

This part of the conversation was a touchy one because there will be the haters who start using the key words to discredit all common sense and morality and we have all heard the D, R, M etc words to create fear and hatred and divert from the single-minded path of selfish vocal minority groups.

So,

This is where we landed, it’s basically impossible to retrain the self-serving entrenchment of the current Major Parties, the fringe minor parties basically have single agendas and no concept outside of their views (very apparent if you take the time to watch and listen), the independents while wanting the make a difference are really only interested in playing on their own and being the moral watchdogs, although with great intentions on a small scale.

Therefore, the only way to actually make a difference is to create a political party who sits in the middle of the policy line and integrates the views of all, with balance and consideration for the entire population aptly called THE SENSIBLE CENTRE.

The Context:

If we look back at history in politics and compare it to today’s version, we should all be concerned.

Not that the world hasn’t evolved from its humble beginnings and we do need to adapt, however should the adaption change the morals, ethics, values and base responsibility to the Australian population.

We believe that the core principles can remain whilst the world grows and evolves which evidently hasn’t happened in modern day politics.

Take a look back at Robert Menzies and his motivation for forming the Liberal Party, then look at Chris Watson and the Labour Party. You can also look at the Green’s, One Nation etc, judge for yourself if what you see today represents the wholesome origins of our political system.

Whilst the point of politics is to serve the people and provide the best outcomes for the country, the majors seem to have forgotten the base values and morality they were founded on. It has now become the game of saying what they think the public want to hear, hidden agendas for their own self-serving objectives, not being held accountable for actual outcomes that they were elected for. Ironically, the Major parties want us all to believe them, but it's actually not illegal to lie in political information... go figure.

The current partisan behaviours from both of the Major parties, is doing nothing to help the general populous other than positioning the country and government finances as a wasteful over controlled bureaucracy, achieving nothing, becoming a tit for tat war based around self-preservation in the new media formats without actually achieving any beneficial outcomes for the citizens.   

We need to be clear that this party isn’t about division and conflict between the others it’s actually about bringing all views together in a balanced manner based on evidence, not who can yell the loudest or promise the most. All views need consideration from the far left to the far right with the exception of extremism. The balance is achieved by co-operation between all and flexibility to consider what is best for all without forgetting the edges. Most important is actually delivering on what we say and being transparent about it.

We have a few key principles; you can only represent the party or people of Australia if you agree to:

Core Values

Under promise and over deliver

Don’t make a commitment you can’t uphold

No corporate influence

Every voice must be heard