Candidates deny loss of ideology

The Liberal and Labor candidates for the seat of Sydney say that although they may differ on certain issues with their parties’ agenda, the core ideology remains intact.

Adrian Bartels of the Liberal party and Sacha Blumen of Labor are both gay men campaigning for parties which have not yet come to the table on the issue of legalising gay marriage.

Dr Blumen said that there was a lot of support within the Labor party, both at state and federal level, for a change of policy on gay marriage.

“I’m pushing for the party to embrace it, like many candidates and MP’s currently doing so,” Dr Blumen said. “In any political party individual members are likely to disagree with at least one or a number of policies and in this case I disagree with that policy.”

Mr Bartels said that although no action had been taken by the Liberals they had not ruled it out either.

“There is a diverse range of views on this issue in both the major parties,” he said. “There are social conservatives in both parties, there are progressive people in both parties.”

Mr Bartels pointed to his federal colleagues and the work they were doing to open up a dialogue.

“Malcolm Turnbull and Joe Hockey are doing surveys and getting feedback from their constituents and that is the first step in the process of a dialogue,” he said. “That is how this issue will be progressed.”

Both men highlighted the great steps taken in a single generation toward equality in gay issues in Australia.

City News asked both candidates if they questioned which party was the right fit for their particular ideology.

“Absolutely, I spent a lot of time thinking about which party was the best fit for my values,” Mr Bartels said. “The Liberal principles that I most indentified with were the John Stuart Mill principles of liberty; that each individual should be able to develop to further his or her own unique abilities and contribute to the betterment of society… that’s liberalism, that’s why I joined the party.”

Mr Bartels also said that Mr Turnbull was a huge inspiration for him joining the Liberal party.

“He’s a businessman, not an ideologue and he’s progressive and if he’s working for us then we are lucky,” he said.

Dr Blumen was adamant that Labor was the right fit for him.

“My party has always been about social reform,” he said. “Some people within the party including myself are pushing for marriage equality and that’s the way that social reform happens, to push for it.

“I think there are core ideas, Labor is about providing opportunity for everyone, that’s why we have state funding for education and health, the idea is to have a strong economy while providing for those that are most vulnerable.”