No internal party democracy or without internal party justice?

There was a time when some party members of parliament, we are told, were rounded up and made to sign undertakings to vote an executive preferred choice. It is easy to lambast party executives for overbearing conduct. We must remember, however, that no one is really forced to choose, one way or the other. It is all about integrity. That involves the fortitude to resist unlawful and unconscionable instructions, even from party bosses. A High Court colleague of mine said at one time that ours was more an integrity crisis than a lack of internal party democracy. I have sympathy for her views.

I am mindful of the tensions inherent in the enquiry. It presents itself in the question whether elected representatives, sitting in parliament, are beholden to the electorate, the party or their consciences. It must be remembered, in that tension, that the electorate is a non-partisan collective. It includes members of all parties and no parties.