Contributed by Joe Montero

One does not have to agree with all of Julia Banks’ political opinion to recognise the courage she has shown in crossing over to the cross bench over the push by “the reactionary right wing” within the Liberal Party.

She said in her publicly released statement: “Led by members of the reactionary right wing, the coup was aided by many MPs trading their vote for a leadership change in exchange for their individual promotion, preselection endorsements, or silence. Their actions were undeniably for themselves, for their position in the party, their power, their personal ambition. “

Many party members and supporters feel this way.

Standing up against what she considers wrong has not been a sudden move by Julia. She recently stood up against bullying. She opposed the coup against Malcolm Turnbull.

One more thing. When she says that members of parliament should be serving the interests of the people who elect them, she makes a strong point.

Political ambitions have centred on service to big money and those who are most powerful in society for far too long . This is not to suggest that the Liberal Party is the champion of those who must work for a wage. It clearly is not, and in this respect, there may be differences with Julia Banks.

This does not take away from the importance of that part of the Liberal constituency that does not support what is going on under the banner of the politics of hate; the rise of inhumanity, our rights and failure to act on the threat of global warming.

They are a constituent and important part of the rising movement to turn this tide and should be respected and supported for doing this. This is why they are under sustained attack.

Julia Banks is not the only one. There are others. We might mention Karen Phelps, who belongs to a similar constituency. She stood against the Liberals to champion human rights and action on global warming.

Around the high profile names there are many more who are unknown but feel the same way and are even acting on it.

When those within the Liberal government and party take a principled stand, they stir the pot and bring the internal divisions into the public light. They are not causing these divisions by making a stand. These are the result of the direction the party is being driven by the dominant faction. The same can be said about the National Party.

When this happens, it undermines those in the driver’s seat. Whichever way you look at it, this is a good thing.

Julia Bank’s defection has left the government in a minority position. This is going to make it harder to implement its agenda and further weaken its prospects as it heads towards an election next year.