Fairfax Digital Media Central West has given Parke's Federal Election candidates the opportunity to answer the questions our readers posed to them via our social media sites.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In the lead up to the election we will run a question each day, with the responses we received from candidates.
Each candidate was contacted via phone and email. Their responses are below.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott have both said they won’t strike any deals with minor parties or independents to form government if neither party gains a majority in its own right. How do you feel about this?
* Mark Coulton (The Nationals)
I think that this was the right decision for Tony Abbott to make.
The last three years have really shown that a minority government does not work. I believe the Australian people do not like the side deals and shady agreements that saw the Labor Party form Government with the independents and the Greens following the 2010 election. This was an experiment which was at first novel, but it was an experiment which failed.
The Australian people want a secure environment which can only come under a stable Government. This will help return confidence to the consumer and restore the national economy.
I believe that Australians will vote decisively at the election of the 7th September, and will deliver a majority government.
* Matt Parmeter (The Greens)
This is just another example of the old parties trying to keep Australia a two-party system and shut out other voices in Parliament. Minority governments are common in democracies around the world.
The last Parliament passed more than 500 pieces of legislation, it worked successfully - getting the NDIS up. The Greens and independents played a key role in helping deliver major reforms.
A few years ago I asked Bob Brown about working in the Senate. He was firm - “The Greens are their own party”. We can work with either side of politics successfully. And have always done so.
The Greens focus on outcomes. We negotiate to get the best outcome we can for the nation.
*Neil Gorman (Palmer United Party)
Nobody has enough fingers on their hands to count the obvious lies told by both "major parties" in this campaign. Sad but true.
Can anybody out there seriously believe that both Rudd and Abbott wouldn't turn themselves into contortionists to explain why although they said this before the election ""the national interest has seen them change their mind and of course it has nothing to do with personal ambition".
I frankly think it will happen and the Palmer Uniter Party will hold the balance of power - Parkes would do much better in such an arrangement than it has done with an opposition member from the junior coalition partner.
*Michelle Ryan (Christian Democratic Party)
I understand if the major parties want to rule in their own right, but the Christian Democratic Party wants to be there in order to bring checks and balances where necessary.
We will look at all policies and make sure that they are fair for all Australians. CDP holds to the belief that we should work with a government, not against it.
If elected, I would not take an obstructionist role, but one which would work to endorse what is fair in a proposal and amend anything which isn’t fair.
* Brendan Byron (Labor)
No party ever intends to form a minority government -- you enter elections intending to win a majority of seats and govern in your own right. The last term of government was a unique circumstance - one which probably won’t be repeated for a very long time.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with working with independents and minor parties to govern. That’s why we preference them above the Coalition. But the Government’s first responsibility is to build, manage, and invest in Australia, and to do that the government should ideally function with a single set of ideas and beliefs behind it.
