Haven – The Government needs to do more than just reform the Senate in order to keep the political process more transparent and democratic, is the opinion of the philanthropist and successful businesswoman June Warren. The outspoken CEO of various charities serving poor children both here and abroad spoke about her dismay of the current political process as part of an interview examining the lives of celebrities.
Warren, who is also noted for being a regular columnist in the popular Haven paper The Haven Chronicle, claimed that while the Government’s attitude towards reform of the Senate was “appropriate”, they left much to be desired in their approach to the political process as a whole. Pointing out the whip system in particular, the Haven native accused the current dynamic as “detrimental to thorough and transparent debate” before continuing to label the Opposition as “mere hecklers with no real power”.
Warren also commented on the need for more power to be given, not only to the Senate, but Parliamentary Committees saying she believed Committees of Enquiry and Investigation would add a “new, much needed dimension” to the current political discourse.
This is not the first time that the billionaire mogul has delved into the murky world of politics. In the recent presidential election she publicly endorsed, and donated to the campaign of, Marian Woodstrom and regularly joined her on the campaign trial. Though Woodstrom was the Democratic Left Party’s nominee, Warren stressed in a column at the time of the election that her beliefs were her own and her support for Woodstrom was based on her “character, her spirit, and her ability to do the job”. Her criticism of the Sanctarian Conservative Party during the 2007 general election also received national media attention after she accused the then SCP Leader, and now Prime Minister, Joshua Turner as being a “spineless vampire” and claimed his policies would impoverish millions of children. Warren retracted the statement only earlier this year following the passage of the World Assembly Resolution Prevention of Child Abuse, saying that the Turner Administration had “proved [her] wrong and showed an obviously large degree of compassion towards the well-being of children”.
The interview, which is aired tonight, also sees Warren dodge questions about her own political future. When asked if she sees herself as an elected representative in the next five years, Warren said that “it depends on a lot of variables” before laughing away the interviewer’s attempts at pressing on the issue. The fifty-four year old has previous said that any political career she had would mean putting her businesses and charities on the back-burner and she was not prepared to do it at that time. That time, however, was five years ago and much may have changed.
ADELE WALSH, Haven Editor
