George

If you live in this state and live through this nightmare of a government you would feel different

They have the following
Police minister which "tittie" f someone's mother
A child Molester
Rail system most inefficient in the world
Iguanna gate
Trimboli
done nothing in 12 years

It is scandals after scandals

There should be a way for people to get rid of such incompetancy

I do wish that George Williams would get his facts right. The NSW constitution provides that the Upper House cannot refuse supply bills, and so his comments about the Upper House have no relevance.

What is needed in NSW, as well as in other states, is more democracy in parliamentary elections. Specifically we need:

1. Recall, where a petition of a certain number of voters in an electorate at any time would require the Governor to issue election writs for that electorate. This applies in a variety of places overseas, particularly in California, which is how the current Governor came to office.

2. Vacant electorate. An additional candidate "vacant" would be placed on each ballot paper, and could be voted for and receive preferences in the normal way. If "vacant" won the election, the seat would not be filled until the next general election.

3. Citizen initative. Like recall, the initative, which has operated in Switzerland for over 100 years, provides that if a certain number of electors petition the executive, the question MUST be put to a referendum, and if passed MUST become law.

Until reforms such as these are adopted, politicians and the media will continue to treat the electors with contempt. Needless to say, this contempt is returned in spades.

With the near-universal rollout of the Internet it is now technically feasible to record people's electoral intentions every day: and in a genuine democracy -- unlike the current despotic tyranny occasionally interrupted by elections -- we would alter the government immediately every time a majority of the electors favoured another party. No doubt there would be expensive disruptions as we became used to this system, but in the long run it would keep both politicians and voters on their toes and provide for a far more intelligent and flexible government.

The only advantage of democratic elections over other forms of government is that it makes it possible for the people to learn from their mistakes. The longer it is between elections, the harder it is to learn.