Harris advocates advantages of alignments
(CNS): Austin Harris, the first candidate formally allied with the PPM to appear at one of the Chamber of Commerce Candidates Forums, advocated for political alignments in order to get things done and explained the problems facing independent candidates, as the incumbent answered questions at Wednesday’s forum for Prospect. Over the last four years, Harris has caucused with the PPM and voted 100% of the time in line with government policy, even though as back-bencher he had no obligation to do so. And while this makes it difficult for the former talk show host to argue that he has retained his independence, he nevertheless claimed he has done so.
The current MP appeared confident during the forum that he would be returned to Parliament and made a pitch to be the employment and community affairs minister in the next PPM-led administration.
Harris appeared alongside Sabrina Turner, the Prospect Red Bay Community Group leader, and longtime youth justice activist, Michael Myles. As with all of the forums so far, the candidates were served a predictable mix of questions on topics ranging from education to traffic, as the questioners largely avoid controversy or contention between the candidates.
However, as in the two previous forums, the Prospect candidates were asked about the Civil Partnership Law and all answered the question without engaging in hate speech. Harris said he supported the implementation as it was about the rule of law and noted that the legislation was being used by different-sex couples, too. Turner pointed out that the MPs should have dealt with it instead of forcing the governor’s hand.
But Myles came the closest to actually embracing the rights of the LGBT community. He said that when any group’s rights are challenged, they need to be protected. “These are our people,” he said, as he accused the MPs of running from the issue. “We have to protect our people,” he added, saying that he would not just be representing heterosexuals but everyone.
For the second time the question of alliances and the coalition was also raised. Myles gave no indication of who he would be prepared to align with, though he noted that many candidates are talking about a lot of things but “they have no clue on how they will accomplish those things”. He suggested it may be several months before a government takes shape but did not explain that comment.
Harris outlined the difficulties that independents have and justified why he joined forces and remains with the PPM, noting that the group of independents elected last time were unable to organise themselves. He said that he was elected as “a lone wolf” but quickly discovered he needed at least one friend to get a private member’s motion on to the floor and another nine to pass it.
“You need a team if you want to govern,” he said, as he recalled the horsetrading in the first week after the 2017 election and criticised the cohort of independents for their failure to form a government after that election.
“The independents are great but… put 12 independents in the room and you have 12 independent agendas. And 2017 was a fantastic example, as the eight independents that got elected had an opportunity to form the government of the day, not once but twice. Because of egos or own separate agendas, they could not hold it together,” said Harris, who was one of those eight independents cutting the backroom deals. He said the independents continued to struggle on the opposition bench, where there were “too many chiefs and not enough indians”.
Nevertheless, he claimed he was running again as an independent, even though he is part of the Progressive alliance, and if he becomes a minister he will have no independence at all because of Cabinet’s collective responsibility.
Continuing to promote the advantages of the alliance and structured political parties, Harris said the PPM-led alliance is the only group that is offering a transparent slate of candidates and voters will know who the leaders, ministers and back-benchers will be. He added that a vote for him was a vote for the PPM government.
Turner pointed out that because Harris had failed to be an independent, she was “being fried in his fat” and now had to redefine for the voters what it meant to be an independent candidate. She said that his voice had not been heard and argued that while working alongside people was important, it did not mean she would lose her voice.
See the Chamber’s third debate on YouTube below:
Category: Election News
