Joining the 3rd Party

Today I joined a fledgling party. At this stage it is just a blog with a working title: The Third Party. The bloke who writes the blog, Barry Tucker, is also the convenor of this new, yet to be named, political party. He had put together a fairly comprehensive policy platform which I find suits my political view of things and he was looking for people to join him. It seemed like a good fit.

I had been toying around with the idea of getting re-involved in politics since I joined the March In March march in March. It was after the march, when I found I had regained my political voice, that I began the search for a way to express my politics further.

Politically, I am a left leaning, socially progressive, economic liberal. I deny neither the economic power of capital nor the liberating power of a capitalist system. I am neither anti-union nor anti-business. I believe those who have the means to generate wealth should keep a large proportion of their wealth, yet I don't resent sharing a part of my wealth with those without the means or inclination to generate sufficient income to support themselves. I am all for free enterprise but not anti-government. I am all for a balanced and reasoned approach to economic development. Socially, I take the line that so long as it doesn't harm others, then its okay. But this line is tempered by the reality that we don't always know where harm lies (this is particularly true with the young and the socially disadvantaged) and that risk-taking and self-harm are genuine forms of self expression. Its a balancing act; how do we ensure that people are able to express themselves economically and socially, while collectively protecting ourselves from more powerful forces?

Barry expresses it well in his blog when he says:

"The Third Party believes THE DUOPOLY, the two-party system that dominates Australian politics, is fundamentally flawed, leading to chaos by regularly imposing opposite and conflicting ideologies on the planning of industry and commerce and in the lives, education, hopes and goals of the Australian people."

The entrenched ideological positions of the two major parties is tossing the good ship Australian Democracy about in a maelstrom of vindictiveness and one-upmanship. They no longer debate to arrive at reasoned conclusions, they trade insults instead to score cheap political wins. I believe a good centre party could temper these extremes by being a voice of reason, by being the ones who see the good in each side of the argument and offer a balanced solution. Or as Barry puts it:

"a Centrist party ... will work with other parties and Independents to govern Australia in the best interests of all sectors and persons, not in the interest of any ideology."

So, today is a big step for me, a kind of rebirthing of a political instinct that has laid dormant for nearly 20 years. Wish me luck.

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If you want to find out more about the 3rd Party go to barry's blog.

If you want to join the 3rd Party go here