Australia is exploring the creation of a 77th Senate seat - “A Seat For Humanity” - whose mandate would be to champion the long-term interests of the entire human race and our shared global commons: our climate, oceans, outer space, AI safety, pandemic security, biodiversity and everything else falling between the cracks of purely national decision making.
​
This seat would formally represent the interests of humans beyond our borders, all life on Earth and the trillions of future humans yet to exist. By embedding A Seat For Humanity inside our own Parliament, Australia would set a powerful legal precedent, one that invites other nations to follow suit and create their own voices for all humankind. Just as every law we pass in Australia now has ripples beyond our shores, the decisions made in Washington, Beijing, Brussels and New Delhi increasingly shape life here in Australia. If legislators worldwide each had a mandate to think beyond short-term national gain, they would become allies - rather than rivals - in safeguarding the planet and future which we share.
​
This change is bigger than a single seat. It is a signal that politics today must start optimising for the whole global system: preventing catastrophic climate runaway, governing AI before it governs us, keeping oceans and space orbits clear for future generations. A network of “humanity seats” would knit parliaments together in advance of global crises, giving the world an institutional habit of cooperation instead of scrambling for ad-hoc fixes once emergencies hit.
​
A Seat for Humanity is complementary to the United Nations. The UN works “outside-in”, negotiating treaties; this proposal works “inside-out”, hard-wiring global stewardship into the daily legislative process of each nation, and increasing political will for global cooperation from within national decision making.
​
If we take this step first, Australia gains a unique diplomatic position: demonstrating what 21st century leadership and planetary stewardship look like, and making history as the first country that opened its legislature to humanity’s shared future.