All Shorten needs to be the next PM of Australia is for the gormless Liberal (that should be a small 'l' now) party to retain Malcolm Turnbull, which they will, being as unbelievably stupid as they are. So Shorten, short of a miracle, is a shoo in. A one seat majority; conservatives leaving in droves. How could Shorten, horrible though he is, NOT be our next Prime Minister? Then, after massive waste of other people's money, massive increase in illegal boat arrivals, even bigger increases in the cost of electricity and the general wrecking of the Australian economy, people might grasp the fact that Australian Conservatives are their only hope.

While many of the things Shorten annunciated are politically popular, can the nation afford them? Because if we can't and we hit another GFC. Or real estate bubble burst? All bets are off including welfare benefits which could literally be halved a the very first consequence of lack of ticker to do real reform of our antiquated and inordinately complex tax laws! Energy and capital management and supply policy! Both of which need to be de-privatised or forced to genuinely compete. Ideally with a vastly superior cooperative capitalist models And MSR nuclear energy! With either side of politics here in this country, the more things change the more they stay the same. Let's hope the voters will forgive the conservative side of the coalition for their unrepresentative stand on SSM and not punish them at the polls!? Alan B.

What sort of a fool is this bloke. Employing such fools is one of the reasons that Labor governments are just so bad.

How anyone could be so stupid as to start praising Whitlam as an example of good Labor government, when there are still hundreds of thousands of voters who remember him, & how bad a Labor governments can be.

If enough people read articles like this one, that idiot Turnbull just might get re-elected.

Well, I do suppose that 'fortitude' might be a psychological marker for a psychopath. But I can't really discern the potential benefits that would flow.

A vote for the Dingo is a vote for common sense....but even the Dingo is too smart to venture into politics.
Mediocre wannabes all looking for their turn at the trough. Some may be altruistic to begin with, but all self serving at the end