Parliament works but the politics are 'ugly', says Independent MP Rob Oakeshott

INDEPENDENT MP Rob Oakeshott says 12 months on from the federal election the hung Parliament is working but the politics is "ugly".

INDEPENDENT MP Rob Oakeshott says 12 months on from the federal election the hung Parliament is working but the politics is "ugly".

Mr Oakeshott, the member for the NSW seat of Lyne, was one of four crossbenchers to deliver government to Labor after the August 2010 federal election.

He said the first minority Government since the 1940s was more accountable and transparent than previous administrations and legislation was getting through Parliament.

"So I think from that perspective, it's working," he told The Conversation website.

"(But) the politics is ugly ... I think everyone is still working out just what is this beast that we've all created."

Mr Oakeshott said Parliament would be "stronger" as a consequence of the election result.

The MP challenged the coalition to work more closely with crossbenchers, including putting forward to Parliament its alternative to the carbon tax - the "direct action" policy.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has called for a fresh election to test Labor's mandate for a carbon tax, which Prime Minister Julia Gillard promised during the election campaign not to introduce.

"If we're talking pricing carbon and early elections, there is an important bit of democracy that is being missed ... there's an opportunity for any member to put up a bill on anything including, a direct action policy," Mr Oakeshott said.

"So for those that are leading the call for early elections under the guise of democracy, well, true democracy would be that you've got an opportunity to get your legislation through at the moment, why do we have to wait two years?"

Mr Oakeshott said the traditional idea of party discipline was "almost treasonous".

"You are denying someone the opportunity to express their views on behalf of their constituents," he said.

Political parties were "vehicles for vested interests to control agendas".

"Australian political parties are some of the worst anywhere in the world."

The NSW MP backed calls for an inquiry into the Australian media, following the phone-hacking scandal in the UK, growing concentration of ownership and emergence of social networking.

"I think there's some fertile territory," Mr Oakeshott said of an inquiry.