Professor Aitkin says: “My guess is that, for once, the great majority of voters know what they will do on September 14th.” The great majority always know. Even in a landslide, victory is achieved by perhaps less than 10% of voters changing their political preference. The remaining 90% looks like a pretty overwhelming majority to me.

It would appear that even an academic, even one previously responsible for finding funding, can have rationality return, once no longer too deeply involved in the source of the original infection, & reinfection.

Good article Don, not the first either, in recent times.

Population pressure is the everything issue. No species can increase indefinitely without at some time a catastrophic crash. In humans pestilence, disease, starvation and war will probably correct our little controlled increase unless we can do it in a more humane and sensible manner. This should be a Green concern as human population growth is massively destructive to the environment. However,it doesn't seem to be.

A survey by McCrindle Research shows that 73% of Australians prefer a stable population yet the big parties and the Greens ignore the issue. Kevin Rudd has even spoken of his desire for a big Australia. We probably already have a greater than sustainable population.

www.PopulationParty.org.au is the website of a party with stabilisation of the Australian population as its chief objective.

A good article. I wonder about the Greens and whether they are at the same stage of their development as when Kernot left. The old Dems were at a high but it was all down hill after that. They couldn't sustain the people's interest - the fate of many third parties in Oz.

Even though the Greens have been eating at the ALP's preferences for more than ten years, I'm not sure how well the Labor Party will be able to sustain itself with falling membership and policies which look pretty much like lite Liberal policies. I fear they will be spanked at the Sept 14 election.

There is always 10% of the population sick enough in the head to vote green.

In the one country in the world where the constituents are told the government endorsed truth, about the non-existence of “man made” global warming, the Czech Republic, there is still 11% believe the AGW lie.

After deducting that 10%, then as an earlier poster said, about half of the balance vote Labor, and half Liberal National. The small percentage of swinging voters decide the outcome.

If Labor were not regarded by so many electors as a filthy disease of the political system, rather than a political party, the swinging portion would be more evenly divided, but the stench of Labor corruption will make the outcome decisive.