Dear Mr Bartlett,

Don Chip certainly did the nation a favour by enabling the Senate to actually function as a House of review.

It is a shame the Democrat Party has not been willing to aid the creation of a third choice in the Lower House; reviewing bad decisions is important, but making good decisions is even more important for the nation to be able to follow its own course instead of following the same course of corruption which multi-national corporations wish the government to spend the nation's resources on.

What a sad day for Australia with the passing of Don Chipp. His vision of a wonderfully democratic, balanced, third party was always a good one. His vision and his actions were a watershed development in Australian History. He created the most democratic party in Oz.

But what has happened to his legacy? Do Democratic Senators past and present question how much they may have let this man down?

You can't run the slogan "Keep the Bastards Honest" and then capitulate on every issue claiming that you got the best deal possible. It's simple - If the best deal possible was not good enough you just should have said "NO".

There are major problems with a predominently two party system. I want a strong third party - one that on the big issues, when the deal is not good enough, actually says "NO". One where the Senators listen to the public openly and actually follow their members decisions.

The Dems are now seemingly irrelevant even though they still argue policy well and have many good ideas. They lost the people's and especially their voter's trust as can be seen from the Liberals control of the Senate.

I wonder if among the sadness at Don Chipp's funeral, the former & current Senators will reflect on themselves, as individuals and a group, and perhaps question whether they blew the greatest opportunity to become what was the realisation of Don's dream?

The once pround political party the Australian Democrats saw a burlesque made of its high ideals. Under Bartlett the Australian Democrats had as its No 1 priority a stray cat on Manus Island. No questions on the economy, jobs, the environment, welfare or defence. Mr Bartlett wanted an aircraft used to fly a stray cat from Manus Island to Australia so that it could be reunited with an asylum shopper.

Do we pay our politicians enough?

The slogan was great, what a pity it didn't work.
The wafflers who took over the party and ran it into the ground will weep and wail at Chip's funeral but they will never face themselves in a mirror.
They ,like the Greens, are time wasters and money wasters. Maybe soon the ALP will join them.

Edited for being offensive.

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