The votes are in the centre. It's not rocket science

Over dinner with a journalist friend, I outlined what Haines would have done if she was smart. She would have stood in the safeish liberal seat of Mayo, where Alexander Downer was the member. Labor wouldn't hope to win the seat - they would run dead. All Haines had to do was win enough votes to bring Downer under 50 per cent and come second. There was a nest of Australian Democrats in that seat, so she would start off with support. Labor would preference her, as they'd love to knock Downer out.

My mate then made a weird suggestion. We should each prick a finger, join fingers and become blood sisters. We would send an anonymous note to Janine to clue her in. Naturally I declined, but the weirdness of the suggestion has left the formula for independents to win a seat etched very clearly in my mind. It's not rocket science. You just need a credible candidate and some backing. Janine had both.

So the teal wave provided credible candidates and backing ... bingo.

Back in the '90s, we had a referendum on a republic. In a pre-cabinet chat, Downer was gloating along the lines of "We won, they didn't win in any state." There's was a gaggle of gloating naysayers. Trust me, the intention was to say to the pro-republicans "You're out of touch."

They didn't seem too interested in my contribution. Of course I don't remember the exact words, but it was pretty close to "The trouble with your victory is you defeated the wishes of the people in the Menzies seats, your base. Some victory indeed." Just to refresh your memory, some of the seats that voted Yes were Menzies, Kooyong, Mayo, Higgins, Goldstein, Wentworth, North Sydney, Bradfield, Bennelong and Warringah. Fast forward to the gay marriage plebiscite, and you'll get a similar result.

Of course in both cases there were plenty of seats voting the other way. But if you're the Liberal Party, you should want the people in those Menzies inner-city Liberal seats to know you're hearing their message. You need to try and move forward together, rather than defeating each other. It's not rocket science.

Former Senate leader Fred Chaney was recently opining about the Liberal Party not being liberal enough. I'd certainly rather it moved towards the centre. However, you don't make the Liberal Party more liberal by kicking out good, moderately minded Liberals. It's laughable to think that was the aim of the teal candidates. They're after power, and knocking off centrist Liberals was the only way they could get it.

Personally, I'm pleased that Albanese can govern without them. Nonetheless, they will still be feted. Why? Because Labor will be worried about losing a seat or more next time, and they'll want to be on good terms with all the independents.

I didn't vote Labor. Surprise, surprise. But I think everyone should be trying to help the new government. We elected it. It's ours. Albanese promises a better standard of politics. We all hope so - but that means better from everyone. Both sides have contributed to the low view Australians have of Parliament. Both sides will need to commit to change. No more "mean girl" stuff.

It's probably irrelevant, but I think Albanese is one of the nicest people, if not the nicest person, we've had as Prime Minister in a long time. It's not a qualification for the job, but it might rub off.

So where to now for the Liberals and the National Party? Some in the media towards the right are suggesting this result means the Liberals should go right, because moderate, inner-city Liberals were the ones who lost their seats. That's just hogwash. They lost their seats because disenchanted Liberals want to force a more centrist government, not a more right-wing one.

What the National Party chooses to do is clearly a matter for them. But they cannot pretend that what they do and say is irrelevant to the fortunes of their Coalition partner. People who vote Liberal know they'll get a National Party deputy prime minister under a Liberal government. The conduct of the deputy PM is relevant to whether you want a team governing with that deputy PM. If they behave or choose people that inner-city Liberals can't abide, it reduces the chances of the Nats being in government.

And by the way, it's only a small thing, but I thought all the coverage of Barnaby being so pleased to have a son was just terrible. Did he really think saying to Australian women and girls that he thought they were of less value was OK? Some members of Parliament think they have to appeal to only their own seat or constituency. Barnaby certainly seems to think that. Indeed, there was quite some drivel from the new independents about doing what their seat wanted.

There's two problems with that. Firstly, seats rarely have a unanimous view on anything. But mainly, the real problem is that as an MP or senator you join a parliament with people from all different electorates, and with all different views. Your job is to be a part of finding a solution that works best for most of us.

Some of the independents don't seem to understand what a representative democracy is. It's a bunch of people elected not to do as we each want, but to make the best decisions for Australia.