We moan about them, complain they don’t work hard enough. But Australia has a shortage of federal MPs. For democracy’s sake, we need more.
There are a few things that attract almost universal condemnation. Try saying in a polite crowd that interest rates are too low or that Scott Morrison should have taken on more secret ministries and then prepare yourself for opprobrium that would drown out an MCG-sized crowd.
When prime minister Billy Hughes, who still holds the record as the nation’s longest-serving federal member of parliament, was first elected in 1901 there were 75 MPs. As the member for West Sydney, he represented 14,661 voters. When he died in 1952, serving as the member for Bradfield, he was representing 43,800 voters.
Every seat in Victoria and NSW is – on average – home to about 110,000 voters and more than 170,000 residents. The seats of Durack in Western Australia and Lingiari in the Northern Territory span such incredible distances both are larger than Peru, while Victoria’s largest seat, Mallee, is the size of Austria.
For many MPs, the workday starts at 7am and doesn’t end until 10pm. In the 15 hours in between, they visit business and community groups, meet constituents about issues that can range from local car parking to immigration visa problems, carry out parliamentary committee work, deal with internal party issues, stay across local and international news and communicate with colleagues non-stop about any manner of issues.
Coming out of a small lane and blinded by late afternoon sun, a vehicle T-boned Fischer. Both the driver and passenger died, and Fischer, seriously injured, was lucky to survive. But driving long distances on dodgy roads at dangerous times of the day can be the norm for overstretched MPs.
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