Do we really want our representatives to be our 'leaders'?
Do you want YOUR representative to tell you what's best for you, or do you want him to speak on your behalf at the national assembly?
I for one am heartily sick up and fed of being continually offered carefully manufactured Hobson's choices; designed primarily to maintain the status quo for unimaginative self serving riders on the gravy train.
I think that makes me one of the 99%.
Aristocracies develop when tribal leaders discover they have more in common with other tribal leaders than they have with their own tribe.
This is when they become a tribe OF leaders, and when they stop representing the best interests of the tribe they are supposed to lead.
How do we stop the aristocracy forming? By insisting our 'leaders' share our lifestyles, as some of history's greatest and most popular generals have recognised.
Parliament is our national assembly where we the people make decisions on policy through our representatives.
Once policy has been decided, it is up to the executive (public service) to implement that policy.
Never in the history of the world has information been more freely available, and every person's voice been able to be easily heard. This should be a time for democracy at it's finest.
But it will be only if we remember what democracy is.

I agree that "[t]he key to successful political leadership in a liberal democracy is to bring the people with you". In my view, the same principle applies in relation to the protection of human rights. In other words, the most effective way to protect human rights in a liberal democracy such as Australia is to "bring the people with you". That's one of the reasons why I'm oposed to Bills of Rights that codify human rights and empower the courts to define the limits of those rights.

Our "compulsory" voting system assists in ensuring that our political leaders endeavour to bring the people with them.