Support for NSW’s swathe of independent candidates has come from the usual suspects: climate scientists, integrity campaigners and the fed-up middle-aged (my people). But when a member of the armed forces tells you to vote for Zali Steggall, Kylea Tink and Allegra Spender — that gets my attention.
And not just any serviceman. In the middle of a fuel security conference in Sydney yesterday, retired head of the Australian Defence Force Admiral Chris Barrie took off the safety catch and let fly about the current state of federal politics.
Still ramrod-straight at 76, the Vietnam veteran urged listeners to vote for independent candidates, saying that this was the most important election of his lifetime.
“I think that voters throughout Australia must take responsibility for how they cast their vote. If the next Parliament fails to grapple with climate change effectively, we will not have the opportunity in 2025 to recover from this dire situation.
“Moreover, the legacy we will leave for future generations of Australians will be an ugly one, and there is no one we can blame for this but ourselves.”
Speaking at the Smart Energy Council’s Emergency Fuel Summit in Sydney, the retired admiral said that climate change was our single biggest threat.
“We consider that climate change now represents the greatest threat to the future and security of Australia,” Barrie said.
“Dealing with climate change is a very significant security issue. It is in this context that I would argue the first responsibility of government is towards the security of the people,” he said.
Also speaking at the conference, Allegra Spender, the independent candidate for Sydney’s Wentworth, said that because 90% of Australia’s fuel was imported, we had only “a handful of days’” supply of fuel. The war in Ukraine and recent changes in the Pacific have made us very vulnerable, she said.
After that bracing encounter, it was off to the Sydney Cricket Ground for the Sky News “people’s forum” with Spender and her Liberal opponent, Dave Sharma, who holds the seat on a margin of 1.3%.
The forum, in which both candidates took questions from a hand-picked audience of “undecided voters”, was fascinating. I don’t know if Sky News had vetted the queries or if the voters of Wentworth are unusually insightful, but the standard was way above the usual nitpicking about development (a state issue) or immigration (coded racism).
A question about the two candidates’ uptake of solar panels and electric vehicles (EVs) yielded insights into their personal lives. Neither has solar panels — Sharma because he lives in a terrace house and Spender because her apartment has “strata issues”.
Sharma said he has one government-supplied car and a 125cc Vespa; Spender said that she has a hybrid car, not an EV, because she doesn’t have a garage in which to put the charger. With 60% of the residents in Wentworth living in apartment blocks, access to chargers is a major stumbling block to the uptake of EVs, she said.
In fact, Wentworth has the highest number of Teslas and Range Rovers in the country, Sharma said, in news that will be of no surprise to anyone who has tried to drive along New South Head Road during school pick-up.
Another good question came from a woman named Michelle, who pointed out that with two competent, moderate candidates, it was a shame that only one of them would be getting into Parliament. She’s right — in so many electorates, we have a Hobson’s choice between 1) Union Official and Friend of Bill’s and 2) Party Hack Who Has Never Had a Real Job — you just vote for the least offensive. But here in Wentworth, they have two highly educated candidates who have had proper jobs and actually seem like they have something to contribute.
Even the third candidate, Labor’s Tim Murray, is a thoroughly decent bloke who speaks fluent Mandarin, works as an investment analyst and campaigns for affordable housing and public education.
As befitting the occasion, the two candidates were very polite to each other, the knives only coming out when someone asked Spender which side of politics she would support in the event of a hung Parliament.
“I haven’t made up my mind,” she said. “It depends what happens at the negotiating table [on] the day.”
“I’m open to work with either side of government.”
This infuriated Sharma, who visibly stiffened. “If you’re not being upfront with the electorate now and telling them which party you’re going to support, I think you’re being dishonest with them. I think you owe it to the public to tell them,” he snapped.
Asked about Zali Steggall’s comment that she would find it easier to support a Liberal Party without Scott Morrison at the helm, Spender tactfully replied, “I’ve never met Scott Morrison, I’ve never had any dealings with him”.
Which reminded me of Gareth Evans’ joke about why people took an instant dislike to Bronwyn Bishop — because it “saved time”.
There are four weeks and one day ’til polling day, which means we are about to approach the mid-campaign slump. Those women in teal T-shirts are great, but it could be time for the campaigns to man up and bring on Admiral Barrie, ordering us: “Vote for independents, or else.” Aye, aye, sir.
Barrie was an honest voice during (and after) that disgraceful Howard-Reith-Downer-Ruddock’s deceitful use of ‘Children Overboard’.
An honorable man, a rarity these days.
Actual G-G material.
Got my vote . All we need now is an ICAC and a Liberal/ CP wing for the new Canberra prison
That’d be a “Liberal/CP wing and prayer for the new Canberra prison”?
Oh I dunno about that klewso. When polling figures for the ACT showed David Pocock doing better than Senator Zed the feds suddenly found money to repair that AIS stadium, which is a federal responsibility. Only two weeks before Zed was saying the ACT government should be paying for it.
So maybe Zed will now find fed funds for extensions to the Canberra prison? Though perhaps don’t tell him that the purpose of the extension wing is to house former Liberal and Nats members?
As long as their locked up fishnet stockings and all
Nah, let them build it.
Dig the foundations, get a few callouses and break a sweat for the first time in their gilded lives.
Sounds good .More experienced in destroying things including our climate than building.
I do not think honourable people are a rarity. They are not in politics – which is where too much of our attention is focused these days. But they are out and about working in communities and achieving all kinds of useful outcomes without belittling those they work with.
A great leader Chris Barrie . What we need now is a bucket holder like Fran Bailey to come out and sink this devious failed advertising hack of a PM Maybe some one at Tourisim NZ could supply the PM’s fellow party members with the leak to sink his ship for all time.
You omitted Morrison.
Chris Barrie is a true leader . He has fought for his country and now speaks to protect the country he fought for .
He speaks with scientific truth and is not speaking to enhance the fossil fuel industry that places profit ahead of the damage it causes .
Chris Barrie, you are a great Australian and clearly place your love of country above profit
A regard for our country far above most (party) politicians.
Agree 100%
great comment
Don’t be too englamoured – “fought for his country” – by the uniform which is the aim of all that bumpf & bling, to gull the impressionable.
The only times that he has even been within cooee of ‘action’ were the Indonesia-Malaysian confrontation (British decolonisation) & 6 months off the coast of Vietnam (French/Amerikan decolonisation).
The rest of his career has been as a desk jockey, rising without trace by shuffling paper.
The independent saying, “I’m open to work with either side of government”
“infuriated Sharma, who visibly stiffened. “If you’re not being upfront with the electorate now and telling them which party you’re going to support, I think you’re being dishonest with them. I think you owe it to the public to tell them,” he snapped.”
That seems to imply Sharma believes the Liberals so extreme, fanatical, fossil-fuel-industry-corrupted, toxic and unreasonable they could not work out any agreement with any of these independents, leaving the independents only one choice if there is a hung parliament. I think he owes it to the public to tell them.
Spender said. “It depends what happens at the negotiating table [on] the day.”“I’m open to work with either side of government.”
As any mature, independent minded person would do – negotiate an issue on its merits.
NOT blindly support one side like the Sharmeleon who claims that he is sooo green but, alas, can’t make progress with the crazies on ‘his side’.
Condemned out of his own mouth or, more prosaically, an own goal.
As any mature, independent minded person would do – negotiate an issue on its merits.
It’s one reason people like Tony Windsor and, well before him, Ted Mack were widely respected. They dealt with each issue on its merits and negotiated accordingly.
I agree with you – those two MPs were icons of integrity
Thank goodness when you retire from the armed services, you can speak your mind.
Yes, and his word carries weight, as well. If he says that climate change is affecting our national security, at least he knows what he’s talking about.
The certainty of a political warning depends on the quality of advice that drives their argument. When the advice comes from a people as authoritative as Australia’s military strategists, the whole country should sit up and take note that our greatest threat is climate change.
good comment