It's great to be at this debate- I'd like to thank OBD for kindly agreeing to moderating and for Laki joining me in this debate. Democracy is certainly the winner from these debates and hope that everyone enjoys reading them.
As we all know, Atlasia has been ravaged by COVID-19, and thousands of Atlasians have perished to this virus. As the end of the pandemic appears near, how would you support transitioning back to normal life? What safety measures do you believe are still justified? What role do you believe the Atlasian government has in continuing to fight against the social and economic effects of COVID-19?
Covid-19 has been absolutely devastating for families across Atlasia and including our own region of Lincoln. It's impact has touched so many areas of our lives; from families forced to bury loved ones, businesses forced to close, entire industries left with uncertainty over their survival and millions of people gripped by fear.
We need to be guided by the science and we need to be guided by what works in the long term- as my opponent Laki said our vaccine program has been a huge success and offers much needed hope.
I want to see us do more though both to encourage people to get the vaccine and to ensure that people around the world can also access the vaccine- we can do this by changing rules around patents and by working with partners across the world. If we fail to ensure high global take up rates then we're at risk of new vaccine resistant strands emerging & we'd be back at square 1- it makes common sense to do this, and I'll be introducing legislation in the senate to do so.
I also believe that it's vital that the Atlasian Government works to gives families and workers across Lincoln the economic support they need- which is exactly what Labor and myself have been working hard to do. Successive Presidents from Pericles, to MB, to Sestak have been working hard to ensure that families, workers and businesses have the support they need.
Whether that's through expanding social security, providing direct financial support, helping to cover funeral costs or providing support for small businesses I'm proud of our record that the Government, the House and the Senate have played in providing direct support- especially to those who've been impacted by this virus the greatest.
In the Senate I've been proud to support legislation that has increased the minimum wage and I've introduced legislation which has stopped companies from firing & re-hiring workers on worse terms and conditions.
I've always been clear that my priority in the Senate is protecting the rights of workers and ensuring that they're protected throughout this pandemic- whether it's transit workers, delivery drivers, healthcare staff or many others, they've been the ones who've kept this country moving.
Recently in Lincoln, two controversial legislative initiatives - one introducing further restriction on late-term abortions, and one regulating 'diversity training' - both passed in a relatively low-turnout election. In your opinion, did the people of Lincoln make the right decision? How will you address these issues as a Senator?
I will be honest; I've always found regional referendums low turnout affairs which have often led to results like these. I've supported the Governor having a hard veto, whether that's a Labor or federalist Governor, and if the Assembly has a super-majority they should be able to overturn it.
However I don't think it's right for me, as the regions senator, to cast papal like assertations. I voted the way I thought was right personally, and other people voted another way. Some people in my own party voted a different way on this to me, especially on the issue of abortion, which for many people in the game is an issue of their conscience.
I've always been clear that I believe that a women's right to access abortion services is a right- back when I was a member of the House I worked with members of the federalist party to expand rural healthcare and reproductive services, and have always worked to protect this right.
On the second referendum as the Governor said about the second bill it gave a $10,000 reward for those who whistleblowing- I support the rights of whistle-blowers, and support all protections and support for them- but I'm not sure it's necessary to mandate that they should receive a fixed sum of money.
With a recent bill recognizing Taiwan passing Congress, tensions with China appear to be once more increasing. What is your take on the China issue? How do you believe Congress, and Atlasia as a whole, should handle China? Are you concerned about further animosity between the governments of the two nations potentially encouraging anti-Chinese-American xenophobia?
I was proud to sponsor and lead the work in the Senate in standing up for the rights of those protesting for democracy Hong Kong. I was equally pleased that this legislation passed along bi-partisan lines and had broad support- it shows the difference we can make if we have an experienced and trusted senator.
We need to stand up for basic human rights; democracy, freedom of speech, the right for religious assembly and many others. I will always support these rights and will continue to work in the Senate to ensure that Atlasia is a beacon for these values across the world- we cannot return to a foreign policy of old, which ignored these values in a ruthless pursuit of profit.
I absolutely condemn any and all anti-chinese bigotry, hatred or attacks- and also that against Asians, and Atlasian-Asians. We need to condemn this and recognise that anti-Asian hatred has a long history in our country, but equally we need to accept that we've seen a shocking rise in this.
I'll be working on introducing legislation in the Senate to set up a taskforce on this issue to ensure we join up local, state, regional and national bodies to both improve data collection but also ensure we have rapid, urgent and much needed action to tackle this hatred.
Many in the center and right have accused Labor dominance of perpetuating legislative stagnation. Do you believe this take is correct? Is there a dearth of meaningful legislative activity? How will you, as Senator, address this issue, if it even exists?
Well it's just not true. Let's look at legislation I've introduced in my last two terms- I've introduced a bill to expand broadband provisions across rural areas, I've passed legislation to tackle the opioid crisis by ensuring that life-saving drugs like naloxone can be accessed by everyone, I've expanded the protections for our arctic wilderness, I've stopped companies like Facebook from being able to track your every click, I've worked towards an aim of ending HIV/AIDs transmission and I've passed one of the biggest reforms to workers rights.
On the issue of foreign affairs I passed a landmark bill that would have ended arms sales to brutal & thuggish regimes that imprison political prisoners, commit acts of genocide or other awful human rights breaches. It was a landmark bill and one that I was proud of.
Recently, there have been significant concerns regarding the onset of offsite recruiting. What's your take on this issue, and do you believe that offsite recruiting's increasing prevalence is a threat to the game's survival? Do you believe regulations on new registers should be passed, to combat this?
My fear is that the eventual extension of mass off-site recruiting is we're going to one day reach the stage where somebody basically devout their life to getting off-site people to register on Atlasia, and god forbids starts going to
stupid lengths to get people signed up.
I disagree with Laki who says this is the logical extension because Labor generally does better at election because this hasn't always been the case.
When I ran for the President Labor did not have a clear majority on the voter rolls at all. Adam won an election where the right was dominant because he was a good campaigner, DFW won a campaign where the left was dominant because he was a good campaigner- neither of them resorted to off-site recruiting.
Yankee didn't do it when he ran against me, and I didn't do it when I ran against him because we both knew it would have ended up in an arms race which would not have been good for the game, and which would not have made it a fun, enjoyable and welcoming place- which Atlasia should be.
I don't want to pass new laws that make it harder for genuine new players to get involved and get stuck into the game, however I do worry about the adequacy of the old status quo, which was pretty much a gentleman's agreement so I will take each new proposed piece of legislation as it comes and focus on the merits.
What is your proudest achievement in Atlasia?
Reforming our laws so that workers have the right to democratically and freely organise for better pay, terms and conditions.
Strong unions help build a strong economy and a strong society for everyone- I was proud to name my bill after Walter Reuther, who showed that workers rights, civil rights and environmental justice all goes hand in hand.
You've thus far had one of the more active Senate office threads, in addition to serving as Deputy PPT. Will you continue to be active in the Senate should you be re-elected, and what will be your primary legislative priorities?
Yes I will! It's very easy in Atlasia to campaign with grand ideas and slogans, and to talk about what you want to do... but it's a lot harder to actually do it.
Lincoln needs a senator who has a proven record commitment to our region and to working hard on the long slog that is often required for legislation to get passed through the Senate. It's so important that we have a senator who knows not only how to write important pieces of legislation, but also someone who has a proven record of working across the aisle to do so and to keep plugging away even when its hard.
My main priorities will be building back a better, healthy and greener society from the coronavirus. We've had to radically re-think the shape and role of society over the last year- it has always been out of crisis and chaos that the big political movements have grown in our country.
We can build a better society by continuing to eradicate poverty, homelessness and other evils. I want to focus on looking at expanding the safety net for the most vulnerable people.
We can build a healthier society by focusing on the future pandemic risks and ensuring we have the vaccines, the PPE, the healthcare system and the national infrastructure to protect ourselves if we're back in this situation.
We can build a greener society by ensuring that our investment projects are based on the needs for the next 50 years and focused on protecting our planet, our climate and our wildlife. I want to work on passing legislation to ramp up the international effort to tackle the climate crisis and to support countries around the world in this effort.
I also really want to focus on the future of work for Atlasians- not just ensuring that we have well paid secure jobs, but also making sure that we have jobs in sectors and industries which will play a huge role in the society we want. If we know that we need to improve our rural broadband & bridges we'll need young people trained and skilled in these areas.
I want to fundamentally focus my next term on ensuring that we build a better future for Lincoln after the awful year that we've faced because of the coronavirus- we do not have to accept a return to the old ways, a better and brighter future is possible and I hope to keep working towards that.
