Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Years ago, when Janine Haines, then leader of the Australian Democrats, announced she was quitting the Senate to stand for the marginal seat of Kingston, I had dinner with an old friend who had become a journalist. We chatted about the glaringly obvious point that the major parties do not walk away from the chance of winning a marginal seat. Haines would come third and a major party would win with her preferences. She had Buckley’s chance. On the other hand the traditionally safe seat of Mayo would have offered her a real opportunity. Loading Why? Well, Labor would never hope to win it. With a decent independent standing they would “run dead” so as to come third and give their preferences to the independent who would come second. The journo suggested we send Haines an anonymous note with cut-out newspaper letters, like ransom notes in the movies, to alert her to the opportunity. Of course I couldn’t do that. If the journo did, Haines didn’t take the advice. She would have won the seat. Just as Phelps is on track to win Wentworth. That’s of course why Phelps announced she was preferencing the Liberals. It was a message to Liberal voters: “It’s OK to vote for me because I’ll give the votes back to the Liberals." Come in spinner. Her team knew the only way to win was to drag the Liberal vote under 50 per cent, come second and win with Labor preferences.

The only way to do that was to win over Liberal voters. Telling them in effect that they could have a protest vote and their vote would go back to the Liberals was cunning, very cunning. When you come second your preferences aren’t distributed. Liberal candidate for Wentworth Dave Sharma. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Phil Cleary won Wills after Bob Hawke left and Maxine McKew took John Howard's seat. They didn't last. Phelps may be different but ... we'll see. Such a historic victory might be hard to keep in perspective. It would be easy to overlook the degree to which the Liberal Party right wing almost handed the seat to any reasonable candidate who was neither Liberal nor Labor. Obviously, there was a strong protest vote. It might be hard to recognise the value of Labor running dead, a former member for the seat urging Liberals not to vote Liberal and some well-timed leaks against the government.

While there were clearly and understandably plenty of people voting for Phelps for no other reason than they thought she would be a great member it would be a mistake for her to think the victory was all about her. It might lead one to say something like, “This should signal a return of decency, integrity and humanity to the Australian government.” At this point punters in front bars were asking how many tickets she had on herself. Was she really saying there is no decency, no integrity and no humanity in the government? Odd then to make a big deal of giving them your preferences. We can all have our differences of opinion but to assert those with a different view have no decency, integrity or humanity is falling into the trap of denigrating your opponent, rather than the policy. To see yourself as the repository of those qualities is a good thing. We should all have them. To assert you have them and others don’t is not only egomaniacal it diminishes public discourse and surely we’ve had enough of that. There’s a great book titled I’m right, You’re an Idiot: The Toxic State of Public Discourse. It should be mandatory reading for all participants in broad public debate and especially members of parliament, not just new ones. I’d include shock jocks in the list of those who might benefit from its wisdom but that would be a triumph of hope over reality. One might think Phelps is right up the alley of Wentworth voters. But for one big problem. They are used to having leaders and cabinet ministers as their member. They might love the publicity that will attach to her as it does to any independent negotiating at the end of the debate. But they will want their representative to be at the beginning, either in cabinet or on the way there. Phelps lives and works in one of the most privileged areas of Australia. It's an echo chamber of an unreal world. Lots of barristers and journos ... not many tradies. She can represent Wentworth but it does not represent us.

Amanda Vanstone is a Fairfax Media columnist and a former Coalition minister.