Having said that, i think the Gillard govt's record is mixed, not brilliant and not poor. These are difficult times.

I don't vote Labour!
But, agree with Alan.
To be fair, what more can a government do than give us the best performing economy and the best economic position on the planet, and from a position as a minority government!
What ever happened to a fair go?
One hopes that Tony wins the election, with a paper thin majority, that can me rendered null and void, with a single heartbeat; or, by election.
And see just how well he does.
It's said you get the government you deserve, and many whining, poor me, Australians, deserve the coalition and the austerity program it will surely bring with it.
When the austerity bites, discretionary spending disappears out the window; and the economy starts to tank, the Murdoch/Fairfax alliance, with its patent hate campaign, will really have something to complain about!
Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it!
Rhrosty.

Show me a Fairfax story with pro-ALP/Greens bias and I'll show you many more stories slanted against them.

I remember the vicious Fairfax campaign against Keneally & Co in NSW where they were trying to initiate an early election with day after day of hysterical and misleading headlines - as bad as anything you could expect from Murdoch. Where is the legitimate criticism of O'Farrell? Shootings, toxic spills, public transport woes, broken promises - imagine the headlines if it was the ALP.

Now with the media power of creative omission Fairfax continue to ignore the facts that don't fit their intended political narrative and are complicit in the political stitch-ups we have been seeing for the last few years. There is a multitude of documented facts in the blogosphere and if you ignore the extremists at both ends you can get a clearer picture of what's really happening.

There are no independent political journalists left in the mainstream media anymore - just a bunch of shills working on behalf of vested interests.

Where is the detailed policy discussion and why the obsession with polls, image and personality?

The SMH is likely to be the first paper to close down and go completely on-line, and it's no wonder and will not be missed.

Alan, you are beyond reason; there is nothing in your link which places Australia first economically amongst the nations of the world; it should be first by a country mile given our resources and democratic capitalist system.

And that is the point, not a comparison with the rest of the world but what Australia could be if it were not blighted by an alliance between green fanatics and self-serving trade union leaders.

This government has accumulated a debt of montrous proportions for no good reason; nothing it has spent this money on has contributed to Australia's growth by any criteria, economically or socially.

Given our resources and our social and economic structure Australia should be, within 2 decades, one of the World's great nations. We should have a space program, we should have great research institutes instead of mean and small ones which have been corrupted by AGW, we should have a controlled immigration program, unlike the current one which is dictated by criminals in Indonesia, which does the right thing by the millions of proven refugees rotting in camps around the world while the chicanery of the boat people displaces them.

We should be supporting our energy, particularly thorium and gas, while manageing a fairer return from the coal and mineral industries; we should be developing the potential of the North West and really becoming the food bowl for the world and not be the ideological victims of the greens.

We should have truly great infrastructure projects not the irresponsible and ridiculous NBN and mothballed Desal plants.

We should not have a stupid CO2 tax and the enormous waste of money diverted into the chimera of renewable energy.

And all you can drum up is a gobsmackingly ironic critique of Fairfax's alleged bias against this corrupt, useless government.

Greetings all.

Thanks for the further input.

Pretty sure those figures show Australia’s economy well in front.

Australia’s debt as a percentage of GDP is 22.9% and the envy of the world. Thirteen OECD countries are now above 80%, including the UK, Germany, France, Belgium and Canada. The USA is above 100%. Japan is above 210%.

In historic terms, 22.9% is not extreme. Australia exceeded 50% three times in the last 100 years and went above 100% during World War II.

The critical issues are cost of borrowing – now at historic lows – and what was generated by the spending. In Australia’s case today, the best-performed economy ever - by a street. Both in global terms, and compared with other periods in Australia’s history.

If Canada is the second best economy today, it is well behind. Australia has stronger income, employment, economic growth, productivity, superannuation, economic freedom and much lower government debt.

The Aussie has outperformed the Canadian dollar over the last five years or so. Taxes in Australia are lower and interest rates are closer to optimum. Australia has a better credit rating.

Switzerland is third with lower debt than Canada, but still more than double Australia’s rate. Its growth rate is less than half Australia’s and productivity lagging well behind.

Some emerging countries such as China, India and Brazil have stronger economic growth than Australia. But income, living standards and other indicators remain low.

Australia today compares favourably with any earlier period. There have been bursts of stronger growth, years with less debt and brief periods of lower unemployment. But never has the economy had such sustained growth with high job participation, low inflation, low taxation, laudable economic freedom and security for retirees.

But here’s the thing: you actually have to go and look for the data these days. You will never find analysis of the actual state of Australian economy anywhere in the mainstream media.

Once upon a time we would have found these facts and figures prominently in The Age, the SMH and the Australian Financial Review. Alas, no more.

Alan

It doesn't matter what you say, just as it doesn't matter what any of the media say.

Most of us have made up our minds.

Huge numbers of us have become disengaged.

Almost 60% of us are no longer listening.

We are all just waiting for the election. None of us love the ALP or Gillard. We just want rid of them and her.

All your propagandising is only being cheered on by the 30% of us who are likely to vote ALP.That's the only audience taking any notice of you.

Keep up what you are doing, mate. Abbott and his mates absolutely love you, for your spruikings are simply highlighting the ALP malaise.

Remember how Julia called an election and the next day Thompson was charged, Williamsen faced court and the ICAC continued it's horrific revelations in NSW.
Then Roxon and who-ever? resigned.
Then Kevvy started popping up everywhere denying leadership ambition.
Shorten bolted to the out back and the Greens dumped them. That's the way things are going to continue all year.

Julia's campaign is completely off the rails.

And you should read the latest media reports of the police fraud investigation into Wilson, Blewitt and associates. Particularly about a certain $5,000. You're probably not seeing them in France.

Abbott hasn't had to say a negtative word, as I predicted.

It's all over Alan. All that remains to be seen is the size of the wipeout.