Section 64 of the Constitution [ Australian Federal ] provides that , to be a Minister of State , a person must either be , at the time of appointment , or must become within 3 months after appointment , a Member of the House of Representatives or a Senator . Unless there is a suitable amendment to this section , following a referendum , the proposal to appoint Cabinet Ministers from persons outside Parliament is not able to be put into effect .

jaylex

Readers who support the ideas expressed in this article may wish to read the Democratic Platform of our new party at www.republicandemocrats.org.au. We'll know when we've made it when NSW Premier Kristine Keneally - who is really too good for the dinosaur ALP - signs up!

No bloody way.
Talk about facilitating nepotism. The winning party will just pick their mates and cronies. How would that be better?
Primaries are a stupid idea too. We hate the few elections we have already have without bring the seppo primary circus down under. Anyway if people want to influence candidacy they only have to join their local branch. Its just they never do. What makes you think they would turn out for a primary?

MIKK

Check this out as a means of understanding the reasons why Woldring and ilk say what they do:

http://www.fabian.org.au/101.asp

http://revolutionharry.blogspot.com/2009/11/fabian-socialist-window.html

Pay special attention to the shield in between the 2 men with hammers and note how it's dressed.....then think of the nursery rhyme "Little Red Riding Hood"

Maybe the real point here is that we need politicians with, by-and-large, a great deal more integrity and competence than that shown by many.

Maybe the point is that we need governments we can trust, who simply tell the truth when something goes wrong instead of spinning a line and thinking they can fool the electorate.

Maybe if our culture was imbued with more respect for property, the law, professionals - indeed respect for the dignity of all individuals, we would see a greater willingness to hold politicians accountable for say, truth in justice, (they do codify the criminal law) by protesting - en-masse, in the streets, instead of being complacent, or simply not bothered to register a protest other than the informal vote or not voting at all.

If we do not demand respect from each other then we are hardly going to demand it from politicians - nor get it.

Maybe it is our whole culture, political and otherwise, that needs an overhaul instead of importing American ideas that, if what you read is believable, leads to corruption and becomes the province of the wealthy.

Maybe what we need is to jettison our apathy, our she'll be right jack attitude, to take notice of what politicians say and do and demand that they treat the electorate with the respect it deserves instead of accepting a farrago of lies and whatever else they think will keep them in power of help them to power.

Maybe if we protested in the streets politicians and government would take real notice of the fact that the majority are unhappy with, say, illegals turning up at our back door and demanding admittance at the expence of those who wait endlessly in queues for a country of resettlement.

Maybe if the majority took some real action, the voices of minorities would not be the ones to hold sway in defiance of what the majority think and want.

Maybe if we did all the above we would have politicians and government who respected the electorate instead of treating it with contrmpt.

When I went to join a political party about 35 years ago, they demanded I sign a promise that I would agree with the decisions of the majority of the party. As I had disagreed with many of the earlier decisions, I declined to join, and I have since met a few more people with the same feeling. AS far as I am concerned, if you sign that promise, you have no integrity, and not much intelligence, and I believe that looking at many of the decisions that have been made by these political parties, I have been correct. What concerns me, is that all the Prime Ministers and Treasurers in either party - where the economy has been shot down - and that seems to be always since 1970, they have been Lawyers and I have seen comments from other people, saying that the party has been hijacked by Lawyers.