Absolutely right Ralph. Population growth is the biggest issue.

If Rudd, who is desperate for a big idea that will gel with the voters and get him back into a winnable position, embraced the idea of a sustainable Australia with a net zero immigration policy at its core, he’d be on a winner for sure!

The masses that have turned away from politics would suddenly be turning back and taking notice if he was to do this.

The big majority of ordinary folk know that high immigration and thus continuous rapid population growth with no end in sight is just bloody MADNESS!

They know that one of the most basic things that our government should be doing is to STOP the demand for everything from constantly growing, so that all the massive expenditure on infrastructure and services can actually start to lead to some improvements instead of just creating more of the same for ever-more people!

If Rudd was to abandon his dumb ‘big Australia’ rhetoric and embrace Gillard’s ‘sustainable Australia’, he’d see a huge increase in support…. and he’d be doing what this country DESPERATELY needs!

Amongst my friends and family I know some school leavers who are so keen to vote that they have made arrangements to vote while overseas, and others who refuse to enroll because they don't like what they see in our political landscape and don't want to be compelled to vote for any of the parties or individuals on offer. The relentless negativity of political discourse has turned them away from the whole process.

Anthony Green was on the ABC this morning explaining how a Barking Mad Party with 1% support can get a Senate seat through preference deals, and how ridiculous our Senate voting system is. The group voting tickets can be checked out here:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2013/guide/gtv/

He also pointed out that we are allowed up to 3 errors below the line and the vote is still valid, although preference allocation will stop at the first error (like 23, 23, instead of 23, 24)which is just as well given the tiny font on the Senate ballot paper. I hope they will be providing magnifying glasses at the polling booths.

True Ludwig,
If the Greens dropped their ludicrous open border policies and backed zero net immigration I'd probably vote for them, all the rest of their eccentricities I can live with.
I was also thinking of writing something along the lines of "Can Australian multiculturalism survive mass Third World immigration?"
Australia is losing it's diversity, Third World religious fundamentalism sponsored by the "Right" is taking over as the new ideological mainstream and people's minds are closing up, as a conversation with "the man on the street" will reveal.
I like to point out to Liberals and Leftists that none of the things they want will be possible in a country with significant non European minorities, as an example the White middle class support Gay marriage but a more likely scenario is that Homosexuality will once again be made illegal in the near future as religious fundamentalists start really throwing their weight around.
Danny Nalliah is the future of Australian politics and his worldview in parallel with Islam will become the major ideological influences upon the majority of people in this country.

<< If the Greens dropped their ludicrous open border policies and backed zero net immigration I'd probably vote for them, all the rest of their eccentricities I can live with. >>

We are of one accord there, Jay.

Voters are turning away from the Greens at the same time as they are expressing massive disillusionment with the majors. This is most unfortunate. The Greens should be garnering massive support at this time.

If they’d dumped their absurd facilitation of onshore asylum seeking after the Howard era and come out with a stop-the-boats-and-improve-our-refugee-related-overseas-aid-programs instead in 2007 when Rudd dudded us with his corruption of Howard’s border-protection policy, then I reckon they’d be set to become a major political force at this election.

Sarah Hanson-Young epitomises the totally WRONG direction that the Greens have entrenched themselves in regarding asylum seekers. Well, it would appear that she is going to lose here seat.

Gee…. what a pity! ( :> |