Max, you seem to see everything with rose coloured glasses. On the issue of gay marriage, Gillard simply did a cop out. She knew the Libs would oppose it, so by allowing a free vote in parliament it was guaranteed to fail. It is just another Gillard deception.

On the issue of poker machines, it is entirely a state issue. Both Labor and Liberal state governments in NSW have supported poker machines and NSW has more poker machines than any other state. Gillard was not offering any compensation for her poker machine regulations.

Gillard always speaks in lawyer speak. What she says may not be a lie but it is certainly deceptive. When she says that the "miners don't own the minerals", she doesn't mention that the Federal government doesn't own them either. The minerals belong to the state governments and it is up to them to charge appropriate royalties.

Can-do wants to ram approvals through without the correct balance.
He said he would take the brakes off, just as well we have a fed govt; with their head screwed on.
Get it right now or else you will end up with 5 years of court challenges. Can-do can-not do.

Labor has a proven record of incompetence in fiscal matters. Watching Labor govern is like watching a 6 year old drive a car. Possible but ugly to watch and potentially dangerous.

<< What about all those well meaning people who voted for the ALP, only to wake up the day after the election and find they had really voted for the Greens. >>

Well SPQR, there’s a bit of truth in that, but only because of the unusual circumstances which gave the Greens extraordinary powers. But the government of course is still only a lightly compromised, or I should say; lightly corrected, dodgy old Labor government due to Greens’ influence!

Damn pity the Greens aren’t really green, and couldn’t have seen fit to use this amazing opportunity so really get some momentum happening towards a sustainable society, instead of just going along with never-ending very rapid population growth and hence rapidly increasing pressure on our environmental.

The Greens are hardly any better at all than the Labs, or the Libs!

But that’s another story.

Fact is that the only moral and principled vote anyone can submit is a null vote!! Because of two things – the terrible policies and performances of Labor, Liberal and the Groans! And because of the completely despicable vote-stealing antidemocratic compulsory preferential voting system!

I haven’t been able to bring myself to vote for the lesser of two or three evils for many elections. And I don’t think anyone should vote on that basis.

On thing I find most interesting is that when ever we get an article by some one with qualifications, or interests, in philosophy, morality, values & justice, we always find an author so capable of self delusion, that the thing becomes meaningless.

Is it only lefties who claim these interests, as they always prove to be apologists for left ideas?

They are always interested in advancing minorities, no matter how destructive of the community as a whole these may be. They are always apologists for left failures in all shape & forms. They are always in love with all trendy ideas. They are always so in sink with the latest trendy ideas, I wonder if they ever have even one idea of their own.

This piece is merely a bit of left propaganda, masquerading as a scholarly essay. It is about as valuable as the people it promotes. Totally valueless, except in that it warns us to be careful of academics bearing ideas of justice.

One can agree in part with the Author. Clearly any reasonable person would understand the Gillard "promise" was entirely predicated on a labour majority govt?
I believe we could get the Major political Parties to sit up and take notice of their employers, we the people, if we simply put the incumbent at the very bottom of the voting slip, with their preference partner next.
And such a strategy would quite rapidly remove the obstinate recalcitrant extremely autocratic or quite grossly incompetent politicians from their positions of power and privilege.
Other than that, we should introduce a secret ballot, which by the way is already imposed on al the trade unions?
If it was good enough for them and so-called true democracy, then it also ought to be good enough for all our parliaments, and end forever the dirty deals done deep in the dead dark of un-impenetrable night, in back rooms, by so-called power brokers, who somehow believe they own an inherent right to usurp/trump the clearly evidenced will of the people.
Remember the Granny killing GST and Howard's promise that it would never ever be reintroduced, and then introduced against the clearly expressed majority will of the people in poll after poll?
(87% against.)
Or indeed, the almost endless non core promises made and broken in record numbers, by a patently pork barrelling coalition; and or, the liberals' country cousins, whose main claim to fame in recent years or the Howard era, has been to roll over and beg for a tummy rub, as one rural enterprise or cooperative after another, was either eliminated or made un-viable by so-called reform?
As for the so-called broken promise to Wilkie?
If every indication showed that it would'na make it through the house of reps, how is that Gillard fault or responsibility?
Andrew needs to cool down, take a deep breath and accept what is actually still possible, in a house virtually controlled by independents, with re-elections issues and apparent diminishing popular support of their own to deal with?
Rhrosty.