Australia has just witnessed its first political debate on Twitter. Kristina Keneally, Barry O'Farrell and I were on twitter for a half hour of free flowing debate with whoever wanted to join us. It was far from perfect but any medium that engages hundreds of people in the politics of this state has to be a good thing.
There would have been more people following this debate on line than would fit into many local town halls. I am not saying these online events should replace public meetings but there is a place for online debates in the political landscape and we should encourage its development.
I have read the criticism of today's twitter debate with some people dismissing the whole exercise as a waste of time. I would urge our critics to be wary of trashing online political engagement. Yes, today was a shaky start but that does not mean it should
be trivalised.
Political action via Facebook and Twitter is here to stay. Many people no longer use emails, instead using social networking sites like Facebook for all their online communications.
The Greens are looking at ways to improve on what took place today. I imagine we would all agree that a free-for-all does not work. Our moderator, Kevin Wilde, made the best of a difficult task using an imperfect forum.
Having watched the debate unfold at close quarters and at times grappled with what question to answer next I would like to throw in a few suggestions for future debates.
Next time let's try the debate on just one topic. It would have been excellent if we could have focussed on the transport problems facing Penrith. This is a hot issue and would have allowed the debate to be more real and relevant to people’s lives.
Also, the first 15 minutes could be restricted to the MPs asking each other questions and taking questions from the moderator. This would put us all on the spot to respond.
Despite all the criticism I am quite happy to say that I found the debate exciting. I am pleased to see so many people wanting to engage with politics. That's a good thing.
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