Debnam did not promise to sack 20,000 PS.He said it would be through natural attrition.No new PS would be employed.Michael Coster has indicated likewise.Too many bludging bureaucrats have been our demise.One third of all salaries go to positions of administration.They can save $2 billion pa just on excess bureaucrats.Too many chiefs and not enough front line workers.It is a disease of most Govts,but Labor makes it a speciality.

John Brogden had the impetus of a wet lettuce.Yes we are bereft of talent and guts in NSW but it would do us well to have the pendulum to swing back to some degree of discipline even under right wing Christians whom I have little time for.

This Iemma/Carr Govt have been the most ill disciplined,chaotic,wasteful govt we have had since WW2.They must go even if Peter Debnam lacks experience and charisma.

If the people of NSW reward such incompetent,corrupt behaviour displayed by this Govt,then that is a message to all Govts that they can do as they damn well please.

It is going to be a lot closer than most people realise.Labor has got to go!

PS Graham.Are you secretly hoping for a Labor win so more people and capital will move to Queensland?Are you the pirate wanting to steal our wealth?You just can't trust those cane toads.Winning the State of Origin just isn't enough!

CowboyJoe:

Almost full marks for highlighting the problem of compulsory voting, but a few off for not pointing out that anyone picked up for not voting only has to claim it was because of their religion to prevent any further action.

As with a lot of posters, I would love to see a hung parliament come out of the NSW election, but am unable to determine where we should locate the gallows.

In a book I have, "The nIghtmare decade" by William Shirer, the hung parliament that Shirer encountered in Kabul in 1932 is described, with the politicians hung on a long pole suspended by two wooden supports. As each hanging politician constituted a dead weight on the longituditinal pole, it had quite a droop, but managed to take the weight.

The thing that constantly disappoints me about elections is that all parties continue to compare themselves against each other instead of against perfection, which, I am sure we would all agree, is the minimum standard acceptable to the electors.

I leave you with a passing thought that may inspire other posters:

"A vote for Morris Iemma is a vote for John Howard later in the year"

"A vot for Peter Debnam is a vote for Kevin Rudd larter in the year"

I support everything Mr Denman said, but

"A commitment to nuclear power and resisting any action to tackle alleged man-made global warming until there is conclusive evidence of its existence"

"Coal is a clean, low cost source of energy which Australians must continue to use"

"Prohibitions on tobacco advertising are an insult to the intelligence of the ordinary Australian"

"People are to work to the age of 70 before they are entitled to pension eligibility."

How could there be any support for such mutterings?
The market has limitations, or should have. Any govt that advocates market controlled privatisation, is sqibbing the issue. Pointed out on tele in what if's mode, macquarrie bank could buy all the water that flows in Australia, scary to say the least. Another scare to top the quote above.
fluff

I think it's time to reflect on the statement that we get the politicians we deserve. Also if you vote informal, no one knows let alone cares, and vilifying politicians makes the problem worse.

The only way to improve politics is to vote for the least offensive representative, then write to them. Maybe even to say job well done when required.

It's all very well to get hairy chested and spout rubbish like "they're wasting our money" and "hang them all", but that doesn't solve a single one of the issues.

Cheers

A very depressing result. Iemma's Government is overconfident, smug, convinced by its own spin, and corrupt. NSW is run by people who have taken over the Labor Party, and are running it as their own private corporate enterprise, to make personal profits and get advantages for their own tight little group. Decisions are being made by bribery; developers, hotel owners, the club industry dictate policy because they can afford to pay for the ALP's re-election by giving money for shiny colour brochures and smarmy advertisements.

Those of us who live in Iemma territory, that is, in the western and south western suburbs of Sydney, have seen just what his thuggish mates are up to. Those who are coocooned in their nice inner city or north shore environments never venture into the land of developers car re-birthers and drug dealers. And these criminals are the people who are running NSW. They have the money, they run the ALP. Why have we not seen Tripodi or Obeid in this campaign? Because Iemma is their front man - the one they push forward as the innocent looking family man. Never mind a vote for Iemma is a vote for Howard! Think about a vote for Iemma is a vote for Tripodi, Costa and Obeid. It is a vote for uncontrolled high-rise, for sale of public land to "fixers", for policy set for the exclusive benefit of gambling and drug interests. Have a look at Rockdale, Liverpool, Fairfield and Auburn and see the sort of landscape these people will turn Sydney into.

And no, I don't think that Debnam would be any better. But Iemma and his sleazy tribe need to be thrown out

Mr Denmore your narrow minded view on all political parties, government, the PM, mum and dad in Canberra etc etc and every thing else you criticized in your blog made my head hurt. (posted, 5/3/07).

Please explain what is a ‘god botherer’ and why use ‘xenophobes’ and simply not say someone who fears foreigners? If god botherer means someone who believes in God then there are lots of us around since Australia is a Christian country – holy dooly Denmore GET A LIFE – you sound miserable and perhaps a little bit of faith can help you