While I agree with the sentiment that people are disillusioned with political leaders, the evidence does not support the prediction of a hung parliament with independents holding the balance of power. All the polls show a strong swing against the government and a likely Labor win. Labor may not even need the support of the Greens in the lower house.

The biggest factor at play is that the main conservative parties have deserted their base and gone "moderate". They deserve the same treatment as they got from the voters of South Australia.

As for the "independents", I think the voters have now sussed them out.

It has been a while since we heard from Mr. Compton, but he still thinks that he knows it all: "A considerable majority of us will express our profound disgust with a decaying political ….".

I wish I could say that, but being a mere mortal, I only know how I will be voting. Besides, given our preferential voting system, most of our votes will still end up with the two main "decaying" parties. And hung parliaments are not such a bad thing. The born-to-rule boneheads are terrified of them.

To make things even murkier and less predictable, it seems that the Australian Christian Lobby intends to put candidates up against the wets who crossed the floor to stop the religious discrimination bill from passing. The 'Christian' PM has lost the Christian vote, along with all the others he has lost for moving so far away his party's base. What fun!

I agree, Everald. But I don't feel we are confronting a hung parliament this time round. In fact if the Morrison government is retuned, it will be stack with "Morrison" candidates.

And a more educated and erudite electorate is aware of that and any future implications!

That being so, the independents will surge in popularity and numbers in the house. And mostly at the expense of a deeply unpopular coalition.

I see the greens doing better as well, again mostly at the expense of Morrison's coalition.

Labor under Elbow, could improve their representation, given Elbow is one of a handful of authentic leaders we've seen over the centuries.

I see, how to vote cards being trashed without being read this time, as most of us have already decided who we will vote for.

I also see a record turnout of young voters getting out to vote, with climate change and the need to end our reliance on fossil fuels, front and centre for that demographic!
Alan B.

You are probably right Alan.

Just when Germany & the UK governments have finally admitted to themselves that wind & solar can never be a reliable source of electricity,& gone back to coal & nuclear, our kids, brainwashed by the rather dumb type of girls who go into teaching today, could cause us to make the same damn stupid power generation mistakes both of them, & South Australia have made.

I think democracy works most of the time.
The majority of australians are clear thinking and able to make decisions.
But holding those we elect to account can be a problem.
Investigative Journalism assists us with this to a large extent.

Ideally, we would 'interview' prospective local candidates, and assess their suitablility.
In practice, we rely on others to do that for us.
We assume that the candidates have been vetted thoroughly.
We are led to believe we are voting for a reliable and competent person.
In practice, the procedure frequently fails to provide us with good candidates.

When selecting who to vote for, we should avoid those with 'advertised religious leanings'.
Religion and the state MUST be kept separate.
If I remember correctly, JFK had to make a public declaration that he would make 'neutral' decisions, and not let his religious views intrude in to (his) public office.
Making decisons based on (current) merit and practicality is far better than having them allied to ideas belonging in the dark depths of history.

We will probably end up voting along party lines, even though doing so has serious drawbacks?
To get our vote, a party will need to have demonstrated adherence to principles we find desirable?
(how it deals with climate change etc)
Things like this should be our main concern?

Anyway, with all its warts and blemishes, I still think our democracy serves us well.
We are far better with it than without it.
It could do with a bit of a 'tune-up' though?
In any case, the coming election will show us how australia is really thinking?

Seriously? …John Kerr? That worked out well didn’t it…Not.

Dan

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK.

There's a few problems with the article:

* It states without evidence that there will be more independents elected and then bases the rest of the assumptions on that assumption

* It assumes that the independents will act as a block. But that simply won't occur. UAP and Greens voting as one?

* It has some facts wrong. eg "We must at this point note that the Constitution does not recognise Political Parties in any shape or form. They simply do not exist." That's simply false. The provisions in the constitution related to filling casual vacancies in the Senate specifically mentions political parties.

The nature of the so-called Instant-runoff voting system means that, for most voters, the only important issue is which major party they preference higher. Voting independent will merely be indicative of dissatisfaction with the majors but in the end one of majors will get that vote.

Just on a related point, everyone is saying the election must be held by 22 May 2022. But that's not quite right. The half-Senate election must be held by that date. But in practice, Morrison could delay the House of Representatives election until 3 September 2022. No one is mentioning it but why wouldn't the Libs consider it.

I agree with Everald. I will be putting Greens last, then LNP as my sitting MP is that party and then ALP. The rest will be the other independants with the one I think best being put first.
There is a Youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLS3IfC-i6I which explains how preferencing works and how we can ensure the sitting fascists are overturned!

majority of us will express our profound disgust with a decaying political establishment
Everald Compton,
The voting public's mentality is decaying much faster than the one of the politicians. Got any suggestions to improve them first so we could actually have a valid reason to whine about the politicians ?
My suggestion of achieving a more sensible society is to introduce a National Service & anyone wishing to enter politics or the Public Service requires proof of having served !

Interesting points by mhaze and Everald Compton. If Federal Elections were held in September it could get interesting. Of course the Labor party will claim that Scott Morrison is wasting the public's time by holding two elections rather than one. But if the Labor party's claims are true he has little to lose.

At the moment the public are very angry about the Covid situation- there will be an effort to direct this anger by the leftist Main Stream Media, Labor party, and various Socialist/ Communist concerns.

Those who claim Democracy works are the ones not working in the revenue producing sector !

The thought of Penny Wong running around as foreign minister having to listen to her waffle on TV more often again makes me sick.

- None of the above -

I've had enough of both major parties.
I'd rather cop a fine than give either of them so much as a last place preference.