Lots of good, contentious, visionary stuff in there Everald, Whitlemesque in many places.

I have some doubts the independents will get back, perhaps others in other electorates as, as you say, pollies in general are 'on the nose'

The fact that the PM is going the full term is not, as you imply, to honour the written agreement to the independents, her relationship with agreements with both independents and the electorate are purely contingent on political and personal expediency. The 'trust' element of this govt, particularly Glillard and Swan is why the electorate holds the opinions you suggest.

Your thoughts on infrastructure are visionary and, at the same time, as obvious as the nose on your face.

I would suggest the notion of a 'special economic zone' in the north of Australia as one of the great infrastructure possibilities for the future.

A thoughtfull read.

We need only look at the productivity of this current government, and the number of private members bills, to see that a hung parliament can and does actually work well. Only of course with a leader who can adapt, comprimise, conciliate, bargain and concede, all while looking towards the long term benefit of the nation, not the Party. And we have that in Gillard, who is the politician of our generation, as Roxon said. Not so in Abbott. No big picture stuff happened with the Howard govt (except the GST and the Iraqi war) and despite his apparent support for the disabled, Abbott did nothing for them when he was health minister. Ditto the plain packaging, maternity and paternity leave. Miners were given free rein. So another hung parliament suits me fine. It reflects democracy. I think the independants have done a sterling job and each deserves recognition. Even the Greens have had to adapt.

Hear, hear Everald, excellent points.
As the largest cash reserves on the planet, Superannuation funds need to be seriously looked at. If governments keep running themselves into virtual bankruptcy, I'm guessing sooner or later these funds will be nationalised (grabbed) one way or another.
I for one would prefer a govt guaranteed superfund -even offering lower returns- to giving money over to fund managers so they can play silly-buggers on the stock market, charge fees and offer the real risk of going backwards.
Perhaps a fund which offers regular fortnightly payments? We could give it a snappy yet recognisable name, like I dunno, 'Pension'?
Govt. could also initiate genuinely innovative industries. You mention Airports; why not a lighter-than-air flight industry? Such vehicles would use a thousand times less fuel, be a thousand times quieter, and not require runways. Indeed, such vehicles could conceivably be loaded and unloaded on inner city skyscrapers.
Such an industry could offer massive employment opportunities and major export income, -if we were the first on the scene- as well as all the obvious 'Green' benefits.
Drought proofing and baseload electricity supply could killed with one stone by using wind/wave/solar energy to pump water to high level dams along the Great Divide, then reclaiming the energy with hydro-electric power stations.
These sorts of innovative, visionary, massive projects can only realistically be undertaken by Govts, just like space exploration. Once the industry is established by guaranteed govt contracts, then private enterprise can pick up the ball and run with it.
One thing is certain. Fiscal responsibility and Govt surpluses will not be reliably achieved by popular govts whose only vision is offering more services and lower taxes.

The only bone I would pick with this thoughtful article is the assertion that Gillard has 'survived one of the most vicious personal vendettas I have ever seen'. This seems to imply that she alone was subjected to a personal vendetta. That's simply not true. Abbott has survived an equally vicious personal vendetta.
Gillard cops it from News Ltd., while Abbott rarely gets good press from Fairfax.
I think you are right in saying we are all sick to death of the pair of them. Will either manage to rise above the knife wielding? That alone could determine the winner next September.

< My best personal analysis of the current state of play is that we will end-up with another hung Parliament, because most Australians simply do not want either of the major parties to govern them. >

Yes yes yes, Everald!

< Every government in the world must be fiscally conservative - get into surplus and stay there. Australia must lead the world in this. >

YES!! !! !!

< Infrastructure is the most neglected element of the economic and social fabric of our nation >

Ah, now hold on… We are absolutely powering ahead with infrastructure! Always have been. The big problem is that we are just battling constantly to keep up with VERY RAPID population growth!!

< It beggars imagination that this nation… …does not have a plan to drought-proof the Inland. Nor do we have a strategy to flood-proof the Coast >

Not at all. We simply can’t drought-proof or flood-proof the nation! We could do some things to increase water-provision in the inland and mitigate floods, but it is only practical up to a point.

You’ve missed the most important point of all – the imperative for us to live sustainably on this continent. That is, to make sure that the demand for all essential resources and services can be comfortably met in an ongoing manner.

continued

If Liberal or Labor could just see this…. or could just divorce themselves from the terrible influence of vested-interest continuous-rapid-growth-driving big-donations, big-favour-buying big business, then we’d be on the right track.

But as it is, if we get a hung parliament or a clear win for Lib or Lab, it is going to make stuff-all difference, because we are just going to power ahead (or power backwards) in the same old way.

What the country desperately needs is for Gillard to come out and strongly back up her statement that we need “a sustainable Australia, not a big Australia”, elevate Kelvin Thomson to Minister for sustainability, and then announce a progressive reduction in immigration.

Labor is heading for the wilderness at the next election. And yet they, much more so than the Libs, have the wherewithal to embrace the essential sustainability paradigm, and be believed by the electorate to be doing it sincerely.

Ordinary Australians are thoroughly sick of the same old failing approach and are screaming out for a significantly different political environment. They WILL embrace a sustainability-oriented government if it is presented to them as a genuine alternative.

And heaven knows, we DESPERATELY need it!!