<< With both Labor and the Coalition focusing on negative campaigning, sloganeering and scapegoating refugees and other minorities, an even larger number of voters decided to cast their vote for alternatives with some vision. >>

Now hold on Fred, there was no ‘scapegoating of refugees’. Border-protection and the stopping of the boats were perfectly reasonable issues within both parties’ campaigns. This issue certainly does not sit alongside ‘negative campaigning and sloganeering’.

It is a pity though that neither party saw fit to espouse all the good work that Australia does via offshore refugee programs or to possibly increase this effort, in conjunction with stopping the boats, which would help many more people than have or will arrive by boat while allowing us to keep proper control of our borders and aid programs.

<< How the Greens move now to continue to build a third force in politics will be crucial to converting protest votes into a serious and lasting “new movement” as Bob Brown put it on election night. We need a political force that can continue to weaken the monopoly of the two corporate parties and work with the social and trade union movements to bring about real change. >>

We certainly do need to smash the duopoly of the ‘corporate parties’. I hope to goodness that the Greens can do it. This is their great chance. If they fail, they will be very lucky to get another chance.

If old Bob Brown just sticks to his new-found enthusiasm for addressing population growth and the Greens develop … and implement … a proper population and sustainability policy, then they’ll become a major political force for sure!

The author states 'We didn’t get what we deserved'. He gives no answers as to what we deserve but just bangs on negatives just like he claimed the major parties did. The Greens are delirious because those believing in man made gw crossed from Labour to the Greens ( who have always been the left arm of Labour anyway). Abbot on the other hand picked up swinging voters who know that man made gw is c-ap and are sick up illegals arriving every second day literally.

Unfortunately if the Greens get more power we are a lot more likely to get what we deserve. More drugs, more abortions, more teen suicide, more rebellion, more old people unable to pay heating bills, perverted marriage recognized and a host of other extreme policies. I actually prefer the grace we have (getting what we don't deserve) rather than Green faith.

btw the Greens got about as many votes as Pauline Hanson did about a decade or so ago.

Phooey!! In 1970, 19.6 per cent of the voters voted for a non-major party, 11.1 per cent for the DLP. In Victoria, the figures were 25.3 per cent and 19.1 per cent respectively. There is no more disenchantment with the two-party system today than there was 40 years ago.

We certainly didn't get what we deserved, Fred! And Julia didn't get what she deserved either.

Her speech at the Press Club today was masterful despite the baiting of the Press. She stands head and shoulders above Abbott who leads a divided party of right-wing leftovers from the Howard era.

Hopefully the Independents will deliver us Julia as Prime Minister, correcting the complete failure of the recent election!

We didn't get what we deserved? How do you figure that? Not only did what we get what we deserve, we got what we demanded...a vote of no confidence in both major parties.

There's an old adage that a society gets the government that it deserves. This suggests that all communities have the innate power to change things, and in particular, their governments, regardless of what system they are living under.

We tolerate incompetence, liars and thieves, and so surprisingly, we get incompetence, liars and thieves as our leaders.

In short, we cannot blame our leaders, but the apathy of our citizenry to become or to demand better leaders than the ones we get...after-all, they do come from our own ranks, and aren't appointed by some foreign body. To blame our leaders, we must take a good look at ourselves within our own society. We're all good at critiquing their performance, but few of us are motivated to take their place.