Dare I say it-I think a few people have gone a little over the top in their condemnation of politicians. The vast proportion of them are extremely talented individuals who have taken massive pay cuts to be MPs. For example Costello would have been on 500k plus a year as a commercial litigator. The same goes for Gillard and Howard. Abbott was a Rhodes Scholar. Rudd a highly regarded diplomat. The list goes on.

I can't help but feel that Latham was a symptom of his party rather than Australian politics. We all know the political landscape in this country has rather large blemishes-unfliching partisanship, lack of youth, disinterested public. However the ALP's problems are compounded by much more. The right people are held back by faction not promoted on merit. The party is radically split down the middle causing a complete loss of direction. And to top it all off its traditional working class base has been neglected.

The ALP has to split in two. One half should discuss a coalition with the greens. The other half should snap to it and begin building a viable centre option with the democrats. Perhaps if the politicians know what they are working towards the public may have a chance of figuring it out too.