The Third Voice Alliance -- Uniting the "Third Force"
by Derek Maitland

If you look at politics in Australia from one point of view, we have an electorate broadly divided into three distinct voices. There's the government's voice, the voice of Her Majesty's loyal opposition and the "third voice" -- the minor parties and everyone else who are either opposed to or horrified by virtually everything the other two voices are saying.
The same three-legged division applies, with a little jiggling, to the electoral power bases. We have a ruling neo-conservative electorate that supports the Howard government and virtually every new travesty of democratic rights and values that it inflicts on Australians. There's very little policy distinction between this ruling ideology and the conservative majority of the opposition ALP, so they are in fact one political force; a grand coalition.
We then have a second electorate which could be called the "Compliant Majority" -- a large bulk of the population which is so deeply mired in mortgage, household and personal debt that it has virtually no political leeway, even if it wished; it has to depend for survival on the government's pledge not to let interest rates inflict financial ruin.
And again, we have as our third base the progressive minor parties -- the Greens, Democrats, Progressive Labour Party, etc -- and everyone else who is either opposed to or alarmed at the direction in which this nation is being led.
These two broad structures explain why the Third Voice Alliance has entered the political arena, where it's positioned itself in the overall scheme of things, where it sees the need for itself and what sort of political task it sees itself performing.
The alliance was formed in Sydney early this year as a political movement that would not just align itself with the progressive third force but work to unite that force -- all its many alarmed, disenfranchised individuals, community and activist groups and the minor parties, right across Australia -- under a common banner: "Get the Senate Back." In other words, break the
Coalition's control of the Upper House, under which it's reneged on every pledge it made to handle that authority wisely and in the interests of all Australians, and restore the Senate's role as an independent check and balance on government policy and action.
If this seems a daunting task, it's not impossible to accomplish -- it could, with a lot of work and a bit of luck, be done in the federal poll of 2007.
And it is perhaps the only way that an effective third force in Australian politics can influence current trends and roll back the neo-conservative direction in which we're going.
Third Voice is taking a number of important steps that are aimed at an ultimately "freed" Senate, and one in which the third force itself holds the balance of power, as the Democrats did for some time before they began to disintegrate as a party.
Firstly, we're working for a new understanding and relationship between the minor parties, particularly the Greens and Democrats, in which they'll cooperate more fully on electoral preferences which are vital to achieving an independent Senate.
Secondly, we're about to launch a series of public voter education programs which would highlight the importance of the Senate, and of a Senate vote for the minor parties, and how the preferential voting system gives each person the opportunity to establish firm, independent Senate review.
These programs will also target two large sectors of the population which we feel may be ready to tune in on and adopt the third force message -- retirement age Baby Boomers, ready and able now to perhaps turn back to their early convictions and work to restore the damage that's been done to our society, and the Y Generation students and younger schoolkids who are growing up with virtually no political knowledge at all. One thing they particularly need
to know is that they cannot have any control over their lives if they don't engage in the political process.
Our third task is to give voice, to support and represent, the many Australians of all party loyalties (or past loyalties) who feel they've been disempowered, disenfranchised by (1) the Howard government's autocratic assault on individual rights and societal values, and (2) the Beazley opposition's failure not just to provide a bold and attractive alternative to the Coalition's neo-conservatism but also to convince people it's not in fact tacitly supporting the right-wing agenda.
For all this, the Third Voice Alliance is not a political party. Nor are we seeking to draw people away from other parties. We're a unifying movement which seeks not members but "allies" it can work with in a crucial common cause; building a new society in which justice, participatory democracy and societal principles and values are not simply slogans but the reality in which we exist.
It's a movement whose igniting ideals go back to those of the late Gordon Barton, whose personal convictions inspired the formation of the Australia Party in the late 1970s, and of the late Don Chipp, acclaimed founder of the Australian Democrats and their progressive influence on the Senate.
The political views and policies of our allies are their own business – provided of course that they're progressive and humanitarian. We call on them simply to engage with us, to show solidarity and unity, on matters that are of common urgency and importance. And nothing, to all of us we feel, is more urgent and critical than getting the Senate out of the hands of the
Coalition and back to the people.
We're a movement in which Greens, Democrats, Progressive Labourites, even disillusioned Liberals and ALP supporters, are working closely together to support, develop and unite the essential third force of Australian politics.
Only in unity will we reverse and repair the current alarming injustices and other excessive right-wing trends in Australian politics and re-empower all participants in our democracy.
You can learn more about Third Voice Alliance and our programs and policies from at our website:

http://www.thirdvoicealliance.org.
We Must Act Now to Defend Our Society and Democracy
http://www.derekmaitland.com

Our Charter

Third Voice Alliance

For a Senate that works for you.

TO RESTORE our national pride and reputation, WE EMBRACE and give voice to all Australians who care about our society and democracy and so demand political accountability.
WE ADVOCATE an equitable society governed by empowered citizens.
WE REALISE that political transparency and credibility requires representation of all views through effective electoral systems.
WE FOSTER a multi-party, multicultural society through closer cooperation between progressive elements in existing organisations.
WE ENCOURAGE candidates to seek election in order to reflect the values of a caring and mutually supportive society, free from manipulation by vested interests.
WE VALUE initiative and economic well-being through public ownership of essential services, a vibrant small business sector and co-operation between owners and employees able to join trade unions and bargain collectively.

WE PROMOTE social cohesion and self respect by ensuring that those in need can access adequately funded social services.
WE SAFEGUARD liberty through access to the judiciary supported by a Bill of Rights to protect freedom of expression, association, assembly and collective action from erosion on the pretext of national security.
WE RECONCILE with and recognise the rights and culture of all Indigenous Australians.

WE CHALLENGE damaging market-driven political and corporate conduct on issues including industrial relations and employees' rights; militarism; global warming; refugees and asylum seekers.
WE INVITE you to add your voice to ours as supporters of the Third Voice Alliance as caring, socially responsible custodians of our nation's future.