Choice welcomed

To be honest, the Voices of Monash group had not entered my consciousness until Irene Broadbent’s letter (January 18).

My first point about this letter is that as soon as you resort to ridicule or denigration of a political opponent – you have lost my support.

The use of the terms “stooges”, “so-called”, “dictator Dan” and finally “who in their right mind” do not meet the criteria for civilised discussion.

I have no personal knowledge of the credentials of those in the Voices for Monash group, but I doubt if they are better or worse than those of the mainstream Liberal, National and Labor parties.

MPs of the major parties are more likely to be “stooges” as they unfailingly follow the party line and vote in accordance with party doctrine.

If you study the voting pattern of federal Independents, you will see that they have voted both for and against the LNP government. As for the selection processes of the major parties – Craig Kelly, Mark Latham and George Christenson are not exactly shining lights.

From what I have seen of other “Voices of/for” candidates they seem to be grassroots organisations, more aligned with centrist Liberal policies rather than Labor or Green.

Perhaps they are standing in Liberal-held seats because they feel that the current makeup of the Liberal Party and its candidates no longer reflect their views.

To conflate the Greens and the Labor party is a bit of a furphy. Their policies have very few similarities.

Anyway, I for one will be looking more closely at the “Voices for Monash”, their policies and candidate and welcome more choice in the next election.

Peter Gribben, Drouin