Two party system dying: Father Rod Bower

Independent Father Rod Bower says Australia's major parties are in decline because they're too slow to react to immediate problems like climate change.

Father Rod Bower

Rod Bower says the party system has been too slow to react to climate change. (AAP)

Australia's two-party political system is dying, although the country risks handing the balance of power to climate change deniers and "community destroyers" on Saturday, says Father Rod Bower.

The Anglican priest best known for his politically-charged billboards on the NSW Central Coast is running for the Senate for Independents for Climate Action Now or ICAN.

The collective say they will work together to push the government towards delivering 100 per cent renewable energy but are free to take their own stance on other issues.

Father Bower is battling Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party and Clive Palmer's United Australia Party for the last Senate spot in NSW.

He says the final spot will have a dramatic influence on the direction Australia takes on climate action.

"It will come down to whose got the influence in the parliament, whether it is climate change deniers and community destroyers or someone with a proven track record in bringing people together," Father Bower told AAP.

"It's a stark contrast."

He believes the major party system has been too slow to react to climate change, constrained by old ideological frameworks.

Independents have worked to fill the policy vacuum on climate action as the coalition and Labor floundered, Father Bower said.

"What has fascinated me as much as anything is the very quick shift in the evolutionary process of independents," he said.

"The coming together of independents around an issue seems to be the new paradigm in politics.

"The days of the two-party system dominating the political landscape have gone."

While Father Bower praised the Greens for their ambition and vision on climate policy, he said the party lacked the capacity to negotiate and compromise.

"What they've failed on is actually getting to that destination and part of that problem is their lack of flexibility," he said.

Though he doesn't believe Labor's current climate policies will do enough to have a "real effect", Father Bower says the party has the potential to be "pulled over the line".


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Source: AAP



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