"Think about it this way; how could you sensibly debate economics, public finances, climate change or even foreign policy without having qualifications in one or more of law, economics, accounting or the sciences".

Absolute garbage. I am a so-called academic, and I will state that i hear more commonsense about real issues on building sites, at least thus far.

Seriously? A bloke from a building site without a degree can understand the intricacies of macroeconomics and set economic policy for Australia? He could probably do it if he was trained to do it. But thats the same thing with most jobs.

I will qualify what I said. I speak for the humanities section.

Nevertheless, are some of those with supposed eco credenetials that smart? Take the US. How long do those galahs think they can go printing money as if it grows on trees without adequate regard for the US's viability in the future?

I don't like academics - those who can apply academic form and write lovely essays - claiming they are the be all and end all of knowledge.

This article is written by an educational supremacist no better than your average ONP candidate.

And if you can't understand that allowing women to use dangerous drugs to abort future generations is a recipe for cultural suicide, then you 'ain't much of a thinker.'

Vote for Tony all the same though. I like the man!

"It’s a loser’s card but Pauline and the ONP play it well."
Abbott, Andrews, Bernadi & Morrison are reasonably adept players.
It's core Liberal policy.
Tony will step up allright.......to encourage this kind of perverted thinking

Just for what it's worth on the "common sense" debate, I recognise and value the need for suitable subject knowledge for anyone involved in any political portfolio, but I am a bit sceptical of the full-blown academics - those who have learned from books, history, debating and various theories, but have NO real-life, real world experience to either work from or base their policies on. I think I would welcome a suitably qualified but "real-world blooded" expert in any field representing the best interests of Australia.
Expecting a single leader to be expert across all fields is a bit unrealistic I feel, but a good leader should surround himself/herself with experts in their respective fields all of whom need that magical factor of "public appeal" and the ability to communicate policy in a clear and concise manner to the masses.
Building sites (and indeed many other "working class/common folk" forums) are great for getting feedback on the effectiveness of the messages Government wish to promote, but will rarely generate the initial policy initiative, and nor should we expect them to, but they all have their place and their part to play.
Isn't democracy grand?
Cheers
Greg

"Think about it this way; how could you sensibly debate economics, public finances, climate change or even foreign policy without having qualifications in one or more of law, economics, accounting or the sciences".

I will say what I think the average building worker without university qualifications is thinking.

They don’t like the back stabbing of Rudd, and they don’t like the squandering of billions by the hopeless Gillard.

They don’t consider the Labor party as representing workers, and they don’t like the fact that the Labor party has no policies or direction.

They have had enough of governments pandering to feminists, and enough of families being destroyed by feminist policies.

They also know that they are the ones who do most of the work, and actually get things done, while academics in universities pretend to do so.

I don't think that any one person can be across all that fields. But I agree that you need to be qualified to do certain things. I wouldn't want a tradie doing bypass surgery on me unless he was also a trained surgeon!

I haven't seen anything over the last sixty years to indicate that apart from Harold Holt, anybody, Liberal/national or Labor have shown that they have been worth even the dole in running the country. Tony certain has a very different style, but like all the others, you would have to be a bit of a fanatic to put him on your want list. He doesn't want higher taxes, yet he wants insurance. As far as I am concerned, our commonwealth tax should be enough to handle that. And to get the correct tax levels and ensure that our workers are properly looked after, we should go back to that successful 66.6% top tax, and have a no tax level of about $30,000. Unfortunately, no political party will go for that because it would restrain those people taking incomes of $x millions, and allow the workers to live properly in their own homes, that would not do. I know some of those specialists, and there are some whose common scense is questionable.

I can't help thinking the author has never voted for Labour.
The big clue came early when he said Tony was good at Finance.

BTW Vanna I'm thinking that people who vote Lib want free lemon flavoured icecream...see we can all put words into other peoples mouths. Lets look at the the real facts the ballot box.

Kenny
The biggest swing at the ballot box at the last election was actually the swing towards the informal vote, and it appears that there were many voters who didn't want Gillard or Abbot.

I would think that eventually Gillard will be exposed as being the actual fud (and best to keep her away from any knives and taxpayer funding in the interim), and either the informal vote increases at the next election, or more people will vote for Abbot to get rid of the fud.

BTW. Where do you stand on the author's attitude that only university graduates should make decisions and govern the rest.

Next the author will be saying that university academics should be given more money.

That is usually how it goes.

This scribe has as much sympathy for your alleged academia as he does for the forecasting genius of all those experts currently sitting in Woop Woop Siding watching QRN gathering steam as she passes through 31%.

Being an academic with a perfect "educational background" doesn't help if you don't want to know the truth.

Both sides of politics now carefully avoid a discussion about multiculturalism. A debate, that in my opinion is overdue in Australia. No public debate about multiculturalism involving Islam leads to a lack of knowledge about this ideology/religion. Without this knowledge politicians are unable to make the right decisions.

From a liberal politician it is to be expected that he stands up for the freedom of speech.

Tony Abbott called Cory Bernardi back from a discussion about Islam. This makes him unfit as a leader of the Liberal Party.

I'll also put my hand up as a formerly rusted-on, fourth-generation Labor supporter, who is simply too disgusted by the modern Labor party to let myself be an electoral doormat any more.

The Greens? I may find one or two of their policies congenial, but their obsession with destructive, nonsensical climate change policies, and their overarching statist, totalitarian political philosophy sickens me.

Having spent years chiming in the party-political chorus of derision of Tony Abbott the Mad Monk, I was quite surprised, when I began looking at what he has actually said and done in his career, to find a person quite different from the rabid, neo-con caricature of conventional wisdom.

Notwithstanding that there is much I dislike about the Liberal party, at the moment they are very much the lesser of three evils.

clownfish,

dare to be different! Join the Liberal party. You might be surprised at how well they actually fit you.

keith, are we at the part where you cut off my hand in a lightsaber duel, then tell me that you're my father?

'Noooooooooooooooooooo!'

:)

I have no time for academics.

I am a B Sc. but have led a very different life to most. Due to this life, I have gained a great deal of knowledge, in 3 very small areas. Every time I hear an academic talking about these areas I find a fool talking rubbish. It does make me worry about going into hospital, I must admit.

In the 60s I built the most successful engine Oz motor racing had seen. It finished second in it's first race, & then won it's class in every race it ran for the next 2 years.

Some time later I ran into one of my favourite professors. When I told him of some of the things I had done with that engine, he must have thought I was talking of a dream, not history. He told me my ideas would never work.

When I came back from 7 years in the islands, where I spent a lot of time studying the remains of WW11 constructions, & war wrecks, & building small jetties for little 120Ft cargo boats for atoll based plantations, I thought some engineering & marine biology academics would be interested in what I'd found.

I had found some unexpected results of corrosion products on marine borers, among other things. When I mentioned this to some Townsville based academics, they couldn't get away quickly enough. They seemed frightened that I might say something they had to take seriously. I can only guess they didn't want anything factual interfere with their nice theoretical lives.

It would do the Labor party much good to remember that the best PM they have produced was a train driver. Wouldn't do the other mob too much harm to think on it, either.

Knowledge gap is true and key, especially in regional areas.

Knowledge is also important for an innovative society, if they use what they know, work together rather then use their competitive 'conquer & divide' primitive selves to dominate all opportunities.

Heard a true innovative interview on ABC 666 today about what we miss out on due to 'food regulations' that cut-out the local production of food, compared to local markets in say Spain and France. We eat their imported products but are not allowed to produce our own due to the cost benefit adversity under present regulations. An example of clinical, mindless contradictions, lack of business knowledge and intelligence where the wrong types of minds rule the roost.

Knowledge is key, and innovation needs an environment that is creative and transformative.

Is there hope for the Liberal Party? Not under the present leadership. I see Abbott and this party as an example of how not to lead, where the goal appears to be about attracting the worst out of people, to get points.

God help us all, else the shrew be the one to send us all to calamity, saving gifts to short to conceal himself...

I am with Chris Lewis. The Prime Ministers and Treasurers over the last forty years have almost all been Lawyers, They may have been good Lawyers, and if so should have stuck to that. Unfortunately they did not, and the conglomeration that have powered their way up to be the brains of these parties, show by the recessions they have managed to maintain, that they are worth a blob of dogs dung as full payment. I am more of the same idea as Chris, people have either a genuine common sense and can handle many problems of life, or they are devoid of common sense and can only work out problems that coincide with problems that have appeared in their book, and the politicians we have had over the last forty years have proved that. Of course, the only party people we have to vote for, are those who signed a pledge “I promise to agree with the decisions of the majority”, seems to be about the level of their integrity and an equally low intelligence.

“For the record, Gillard’s moves on foreign students cost Australian universities a significant amount of revenue. Which begs the question of why a university employee would vote for somebody who is wreaking havoc in their sector. But I digress.”

What you say is true. The problem is that the price of granting these students' citizenship to lure them to the universities, seems a little wrong to me.

"Think about it this way; how could you sensibly debate economics, public finances, climate change or even foreign policy without having qualifications in one or more of law, economics, accounting or the sciences".

What is being alleged that only experts are capable of having an opinion. Are you suggesting that most are not capable of looking at arguments of experts, making their own decisions from the facts displayed.

I thought that was why we had experts, someone to sort out the truth, explain and educate us, in a way we lower humans can understand.

“I don't think that any one person can be across all that fields. But I agree that you need to be qualified to do certain things. I wouldn't want a tradie doing bypass surgery on me unless he was also a trained surgeon!”

I also would want a trained surgeon. I would also expert that expert to explain to me why and how he was going to operate on me. I would expect him to communicate what was happening. I would also reserve my right if he did not convince me to seek a second opinion

“The biggest swing at the ballot box at the last election was actually the swing towards the informal vote, and it appears that there were many voters who didn't want Gillard or Abbot.”

This swing was not uniform across the country. It was mostly in the Western suburbs of Sydney. I have not sighted any research that indicates what this means. I believe that there has only been a small growth of informal votes overall across the electorate.
I would also like to point out the swing to the Coalition was uniformed across the states. They did well in Queensland but were unable keep the momentum up in other states.
What does the rise of informal votes mean? Without the benefit of any research, it could mean in the overall figure that people are not interested in politics, therefore getting their names crossed off but not voting.
I do not know what effect Mr. Latham's call to vote informal had on the situation.
I suspect that in Western Sydney and other like places, something else was going on. I suspect that it was not a lack of interest in politics but the opposite. It is possible it was a protest vote, expressing a pox on both major parties and a disinclination to move to the minor parties. If that is true, politics in this country has reached a new low and is not respected or meeting the needs of the people.

What utter arrogrance.

Go back and support your arrogrant Labor mates.

Obviously you've never been able to communicate with real working people nor well read individuals like myself.

None of us have much value for academic's such as yourself, especially half smart lawyers, as we see you lot as devoid of understanding of the real world ... living and working in ivory towers we bloody fund.

Just keep your f...ing elitist attitudes to yourself and keep voting for the labor p...s who just take us all for granted and who think it smart only to lie to use and have taxes they like and taxes they hike.

If Abbott was to listen to the likes of you we'd all be totally f...ed.

Well, this poor writer dropped a bombshell but it has been good to see so many writers responding. One can always receive a heavy response on these pages if you display arrogance, in this case a little out of line, talk about euthanasia and gay marriage.

Politics in 2011 is almost passe because we have the worst collection of elected representatives I have seen in my lifetime. So if the writer can imagine Abbott strutting the international stage, thinking on his feet for more than 2 minutes, being positive on any subject but George Pell, then get behind Abbott. He is worth a vote. I would rather abstain because as the alternative may be worse, (right now she's the same), I would find it somewhat difficult to shave in the morning after looking at a face that had contributed to either one of these feckless politicains masquerading as intelligent leaders.

Your refection on Pauline Hanson and her educational shortcomings, undoubted, was cruel, regardless of her philosophies. She got there without the big party machines of Arbib and Gillard, right wing today, left wing tomorrow. Remember, thousands of Queenslanders voter for her. But then they also voted for Katter. Enough said. I am sure that in the time of Ben Chifley, as he was from a working class background, academic training required one had to have wealthy parents or a scholarship, the latter no longer available.

What we desperately need is a new party or a re-emphasis to encourage worthy independents to stand. Except for the big-hatted cowboy from Queensland, the ones we have now represent values that are hard to find in the big momolithic parties, steeped in graft and largesse from questionable supporters, such as Gillard with her inability to even spell Palestine but happy to jump when they hit the buttons and say how she supports Israel's killing of 1400 Gazans. Makes you proud to have once been a Labor voter.

Some of the people who write in these columns sound like worthy politicians. Step up to the plate and make Australia respected again. We must do something.