Democracy!? What democracy is that Peter? Dey mock crass see, perhaps?

We are a democracy in name only! Where folks with as little as 15% of the primary vote can and do win seats!

With what the people want, the last consideration on the minds of political activists, massively manipulating the preference voting system just to maximise seats! Rather than genuine democracy!

Genuine democracy would allow any party member of any party to cross the floor on any genuine conscience issue!

Now and historically, only ever allowable inside the coalition?

Even so, the party line needs to be constructed as agreed party policy and taken to the next election! EVEN IF IT'S COMPLETE NONSENSE!

That said, true democracy is where the majority rule and have their way! Be it in the broader electorate, or the party room! Moreover, anyone can have a on the road to Damascus moment and a brief moment of mind changing revelation! In conclusion let me say this, where one member stands alone from the rest? That member has more in common with Herr hitler, Joseph Stalin and Mussolini than any tenet of true democracy?
Alan B.

In the case of the drunken flapping mouth of Christopher Pyne. What he said actually overrode Democracy altogether. "Loose lips sink ships"!

He was exuberant his ideas actually usurped the collective party room decision to put the controversial subject of homosexuality, to a screamingly Democratic plebiscite.
I think Peter Bowden is " one of them"!

And point two. The Senate is Democratic. To suggest otherwise in the defence of Democracy, is absurd

How typical of some academic twit, to cling to some ivory tower theory of "democracy", rather than live in the real world, with the "democracy" we actually have.

It is a total impossibility for voters to find out the real thinking of every candidate standing for election. It is also far too easy for a candidate to hide their personal belief in policies that would make them unelectable in their electorate. This is why party politics endures. It is much easier, & actually the only practical system, to find the policies of the major parties, & vote accordingly for their local candidate.

This system only works when members are bound by the party room decisions. Once individual members start going off at tangents of their own thinking, we lose all possibility of knowing what we are voting for. A very large number of voters have no idea of even the name of the local candidate, let alone his/her thinking on most subjects. Hell, many of them probably can't think anyway. Some of them probably actually believe in global warming

In his piece Peter tells us he doesn't believe in democracy, with his opinion of Brexit, & would deny the will of the people, in favour of the elite.

Well Peter, it is a damn good thing that you will never get your preference, as it is totally anti democratic.

As an addendum to the above:

What really gets up my nose is the King of homosexual twerps, Zimmerman, the liberals member for North Sydney. (How that P* is disliked in that electorate, defies the figuring needed to understand how he got there...now there is the example of lack of Democracy)!

What is annoying in the extreme, is the power of the homosexual lobby to stand between the electorate and real Democracy!

Two prime candidates for the Liberals to remove post haste are Pyne and Zimmerman.
Notice, not one complaint against Zimmerman, the actual cause of the fracas?

If a politician does not want to tow the party line, he or she should find a different party or stand as independents.

Begin with capped donations only from registered voters to candidates standing in the donor's electorate.

The MPs elected form the government. First session Ministers are elected from the total pool.The ministers, or perhaps the total pool elect the prime minister.

No party funding, no party meetings allowed.

A total of three terms in government and an MP is finished for 12 years. Government includes local and state government.