You're right Jennifer.

The solution is to stop voting for them.

However this requires that we ignore the arbitrary rule that we should number all the boxes on the ballot. Yes, that will make it "informal" and it won't be in the official tally. However scrutineers will certainly notice if the informal vote suddently jumps to 5, 10 or 15 percent. That will cause upheaval.

Oh, and don't do this if you're in an electorate where somebody decent has a real chance of being elected. Tony Kevin has spelt out the strategy:
http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=20090

Stop giving them oxygen.

Stop voting for them.

Talk about pots, kettles, & degrees of blackness.

It takes 4 words to say Tony Abbott no good, not 4 pages.

I'm going to have to stay sitting for a few minutes, with all her spin this birds got me dizzy, & she taught this rubbish!

Great article, Jennifer! And the metaphor is perfect. Rudd is the snake and Abbot lurks in the depths waiting his chance.

The dilemma facing Australian citizens is serious. The truth is that we have no leaders. We have a pair of self-serving, truth-spinning dummies on both sides of the aisle, neither of whom can be trusted and neither of whom are capable of achieving their goals.

This is a serious situation for our country given that we could shortly have a GFC Mark2 and, quite possibly, a nuclear war thanks to Israel.

What we are supposed to do, I don't know.

Our democracy is failing us. Badly!

http://www.dangerouscreation.com

Dear Jennifer, this article is the best/worst example of the problem. No honesty from the author at all.

Yes Krudd's a Dud & Tony's a Phony, but the Best/Worst liars of all, over the last 5 decades have been Loony, Left, Humanities Academics.

Of them, the most evil, have been the "Spin Sista's" from the Radical, Extreme, Loony, Left, Lesbian, Fauxmanista Brigade. Spinning their irrational Misandry over & over & over again.

The definition of Communist, Anarchist, Socialism is the ability to maintain an argument, despite the facts.

The definition of Conservatism is to ignore the facts, until they go away.

What is happening in politics right now is exactly the same as what has been going on in politics for at least the last 5 decades, that i know of.

A retreat in Horror from, both the Loony, Left & the Raving, Right by 90% of the population, back into the Middle. Where they always were anyway.

The liberal, getup/labour, national & red/green parties have always leapt into bed with each other, ruling left/right elites, the Canberra Press Gallery, Academia, Bureaucrookracy, Big Banks, Big Unions, Big Business, whenever, "the peasants have been revolting" to put down, any genuine, new, political party or, "third force" in politics.

Look what they all did to Pauline Hanson, the Australian Democrats, etc, etc, etc.

Don't believe me look up Hansard, Newspaper archives for yourself.

The Red/greens & the Nuclear Disarmament party before them were set up by getup/labour stalwarts as false shop fronts, alleged minor parties to fool disgruntled ex getup/labour voters into thinking they could have a protest vote & then directing preferences back to getup/labour anyway, thereby killing off the Australian Democrats.

After 2010, NEVER AGAIN, there will be Senate Committee on "Un Australian Activities", hopefully loony, left academics will be top of their list.

Geoff Davies, your wrong the best thing you can do is put the red/greens last, getup/labour second last, liberals third last, nationals fourth last & number every real minor party & independent ahead of them.

Politicians nowdays are expected to have an opinion on everything and it should surprise no-one when they make a statement that they later regret. John Howard used to ignore the question and make the point that he wanted to make anyway. Kevin Rudd handles these questions with a sweet little platitude. Perhaps Tony Rudd should stop answering these questions and comment only on esteblished policy.

Hasbeen, spot on mate, of course the local chapter of,

http://www.whirlingdervishes.org/

started with Germain Greer, otherwise known as the, "Spin Sistas in da hood" or Fauxmanistas.

They twirl around until reaching a trance like state, whereupon they fall down giddy, then getup with a burning desire to, "spread the truth" as they see it, otherwise known in psychiatry circles as, "reverse psychology psychosis" whereby the sufferer is compelled to religiously repeat the exact opposite of the truth ad infinitum.

David G, your getting closer to the truth there mate but i have a better link for you.

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/archivos_pdf/nonedarecallit_conspiracy.pdf

Or.

http://www.cruelhoax.ca/#top

Or.

http://www.lawfulpath.com/ref/greening.shtml

benk, you make an excellent argument, but i still believe that it is possible for an honest, intelligent, politician (i know that's an oxymoron at the moment, but there are, some out there, http://barnabyisright.com/, Bob Katter Jr, Nick Xenophon, Steve Fielding) to find a path through the minefield of differing opinions & stand for something.