I hope the idiot, Pyne, will find himself "in the wilderness" soon. We need a Trump to send him and Turnbull there; somebody with more personality than Bernadi, who might be conservative, but who is entirely unlikable and unpopular.

"Malcolm Turnbull certainly shows more heart". Who would have known! Turnbull seems interested only in Turnbull - nothing else, certainly not Australia. He is a bear with little brain.

Finally, to "stand together in the centre" is not the way to go. The centre is a wishy-washy no man's land. We need to stand together against socialism and the fantasism that people like Turnbull and the grossly immature Pyne stand for.

Pyne, Trump and Turnbull walked into a bar, you'd think, one of them would have seen it!

Levity aside, the real problem in today's politics is circular thinking and all inside a locked and bolted box. [Implacable conservative ideology?] And further compounded, by doing what you've always done while expecting a different result. And further compounded by scarcity thinking! i.e. If they have more, we will have to make do with less and an (insane) urge to commodify all essential service!?

And what you'd expect when the inmates have taken over the asylum. And possibly true when all new ideas, lateral thinking are stubbornly resisted.

Take tax, the only solution that appeals is increased complexity, consequent increased staff and bigger government, even though, much of this avoidance is enabled by overseas jurisdictions over which we have absolutely no control, and the additional complexity therefore adds another layer of, get them by the dozen, loopholes!

Abbott for all his flaws and faults had one thing right, reduce and simplify the tax system.

As would exist if we just converted over to a stand alone unavoidable expenditure tax.

And for folks doing it tough? If you haven't got it you can't spend it and therefore are effectively non taxable!

I watched more than one farmer being sold up due to a downturn in returns, drought, market contractions and what have you.

Some with a decade of good harvests wasted trying to avoid tax? And consequently, half a dozen serviceable tractors, all manner of still serviceable farm machinery and a functional but modest harvester being offloaded for a pittance, when, if they just paid their tax instead of loading themselves with debt as a method to avoid tax, they could have used their after tax surpluses to invest in some off farm, passive income production! And kept the farm!

As fast as we add layer upon layer of entirely counterproductive complication the faster the clever people will find loopholes; and this endemic and massive avoidance the only real reason our budget is tanking, with consequent public health and education becoming increasingly unaffordable?
Rhrosty.

This article is completely wrong.

First of all US politics is and always has been theater. Trump is not without president. Have a look at Ronald Reagan or Arnie. Ronald is far more right wing in republicans memory then he was in real life. He got into office through his frame in movies, first in California and then the Presidency.

Australian politics is even worst, most voters vote for their preferred Prime Minster even though they can only vote for their local members. So the PM has to be a populist they will try to appeal to the centrist swinging voters during the election and then settle some where between there and the real position afterwards.

The real question the author should be asking is why can't the Republicans come up with a good candidate for President? At this stage the only viable alternative to Trump in the race is Cruz and he is a complete nutcase. Trump should he win will do the same thing he does in business he will surround himself with good people. what sort of nuts would Cruz surround himself with

ttbn, Rhrosty and Cobber

You reckon our democracy has it bad. What about the Communist government of Vietnam.

Latest from Kyodo News http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2016/04/405461.html :

"Phuc elected new Vietnamese prime minister
HANOI, April 7, Kyodo

Vietnam's parliament on Thursday elected Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc as new prime minister to succeed Nguyen Tan Dung.

Phuc, 61, will steer the emerging Southeast Asian country where the Communist Party maintains one-party rule as it pursues wide-ranging market reforms known as "Doi Moi."

Top challenges for Phuc include dealing with territorial tensions with China in the South China Sea and economic reforms."

Poor Dung!!

An appeal to "centrism", is an appeal to sit on the fence when your house is on fire and do nothing, Mark Christenson.

The primary role of government is to create a prosperous, stable, and contented society, and to protect it's own people from outside threats. To this aim, the two competing ideologies in the western world (up to now) have been socialism, and the democratic free market economy. All western countries have chosen a blending of the two. People like the idea of having a government which is their nanny and will look after them, at the same time realising that the real strength of the democratic free market economies is creating the conditions where people will stand on their own two feet.

Unfortunately, things have gotten out of kilter with the socialists doing whatever it takes to make their societies so dysfunctional, that only a strong unrepresentative centralised government with totalitarian powers can keep the country together.

Central to this is to destroy the white European identity through the importation of every other race and ethnicity you can find. That this has been catastrophic in terms of social stability, economic prosperity, and law and order, is something the socialists will deny forever. The elevation of the most troublesome, least productive, and ever growing minorities in society as the victims of the ever shrinking most productive is another tactic. The complete inability of socialists to ever understand that you can never spend more than you earn is another factor creating crisis in the western world.

The Right of politics is now the one in disarray. There is a realisation among intelligent people that those western conservative parties who should be fighting for their own productive ethnicity, for democracy and free markets, have drifted too far to the left, and the catastrophic consequences of that mistake are now manifest in Europe. If Trump had never existed, the forces that oppose the creeping socialisation, ethnic separatism, spreading totalitarianism, economic ruination, gender confusion, destruction of free speech, and Muslim religious fascism, that is destroying western society, would have simply found another champion.

Lego, I think you're on to something with your, drifting too far to the left analysis; and probably explains socialist entities like left leaning Herr Hitler and Mussolini?

And clearly Trump is so far left, he's almost communist?

They've all got to move to the right and join entities like the tea party and the religious right?

And if successful can start winding back asinine absurdities like free speech, the ultra high wages paid to fully imported mexican farm labor and unnecessarily extravagant Obama care for starters? And only able to be explained by the politics of envy?

How can clearly overworked doctors be expected to cope if they can't make a reasonable profit margin? The mansion and the two merc garage, share portfolios and swollen Cayman Island bank accounts are simply show dressing and mortgaged up to the hilt, courtesy of the clearly socialist, pound of flesh, shylock banks.

I find myself absolutely astounded by the quality of your thinking, why aren't you President for life?

Hang in there buddy, I think you are starting to impress folks with the sheer brilliance of your massive intellect and absolutely astute analysis!

Too far to the left, who'd have thought? I prostrate myself at your feet in absolute awe and wonderment, suppository of all turd polishing wisdom.
Rhrosty.