Should we have more politicians? No, more MPs won’t fix things

The Albanian government is pushing to add 40 politicians to parliament before the next elections. The Liberals said they would oppose the change, while the National Party said they were open to supporting Labour. The Greens appear likely to gain support in the Senate.

But should Australia’s parliament be expanded? In today’s Friday Fight, political editor Bernard Keane makes a negative claim and election analyst Ben Raue takes a positive view.

If you asked Australians, from the most fanatical right-winger to the most right-wing, basket-weaving leftist, what the biggest problems with Australian democracy are, how likely are they to mention that there are too few politicians?

Arguably fewer than those who claim vested interests have much influence.