"he is a con artist............" I stopped right there.

Where are you? You are not PM are you. Why dont you stop trying to take someone down a peg, and lift yourself off the canvas.

Unfortunately that is the nature of the beast. Propoganda is unfortuntately an essential tool in the media frenzy that follows politics.

You in your position should understand that in order to do the greatest good for the greatest number, you sell the benefits. Nobody should think he is truly evil, as he is not. This country is going well, he has created wealth and equity for many Australians, and we are still in the country where you can come from the most humble beginnings and get wherever you want to go, as the infrastructure to succeed is in place and accessible.

He has improved our wealth, our business and has faced the most difficult time as a leader since the Vietnam war, and made decisions based on the long term benefit of Australia. Yes, going to war is part of that, if you cant see the grand plan a mile away and the fact that Australia is poised to benefit, you need glasses and a heartbeat.

It is a shame we have knockers in this country. Guess what, If you politicians stop throwing stones at eachother and concentrated on your own ship, we would all be better off. Many people are sick of hearing politicians bagging and ripping at eachother, it is pathetic and shows you have nothing yourself but this means to gain support.

Praise the man, 10 years at the top, the country is in good shape, he can stay my captain any day. I dont see him writing posts about you, he probably has better things to do as he is the top dog.

Fair dinkum and stone the crows...is Lyn Allison finished throwing her tantrum? Once again a fine exhibition of the left's tendency to patronise Australia and blame Howard for their failings. Has it ever occured to Allison that the reason Howard has won 4 elections straight is because Australians actually have exercised their right to accept his politics?

To give Australians any credit for making their decisions rationally would be simply too much for Allison and the like. Instead, according to the left, Australians are too insular, ignorant and inherently racist to make any meaningful decisions on their own accord. Why should an Australian be judged for preferring a beer and the cricket to sharing a bottle of Bollinger on the grass at parliament house after an abortion debate? Similarly why is an Australian a racist for objecting to minority stances that are clearly immoral and criminal in nature?

Why can't Australians be fond of 'mateship' and proud of our ANZAC and pioneering past without having to worry about it being denegrated. Sure mistakes have been made particularly with our indigenous people but has it really become too fashionable to sip lattes without anything 'nice' to say about one's country? Should we all feel bad that Sadamm has gone? Should we apologise to the parents of 'the children overboard' who it appears simply sunk their boat with their kids on it instead of throwing them overboard?

The funny thing is that the left has reduced its voting appeal largely to a small clique of 'intellectuals' who think they are better than everbody else. Young people have abandoned the left in droves. Professionals have done the same. And the working class is beginning to prefer cricket and VB to the incessant ramblings of the union apartchiks who care more about their place in history than their country's.

Well done wre and realist.

Once again, not a single argument being addressed. Just the usual "how dare you criticise our great leader, you lefty intellectual, ABC watching latte sipper you".

Tell me straight. Just yes or no. Do you really think Howard is an honest man who told the truth on WMDs, children overboard and AWB?

I can't believe you have said "Now I don't believe for one minute that the majority of Australians actually want to live in such a society"
I really cannot comprehend this at all.
What do you mean such a society, we are paid fair wages, have access to excellent medical care, home ownership, education, the list goes on.
We dont have millions of people working for $2.00 an hour, and tens of thousands starving and living on the streets like other countries.

Not a single argument addressed- I guess that makes us more left than right then. I do think Howard is an honest man- he is also politically savvy, intelligent and realises that Australians ARE SMART ENOUGH to see through the duplicitous arguments that patronise and belittle them....

Howard realised a long time ago that Australians were NOT interested in elevating issues like 'the children overboard' issue, AWB, 'Sorry day' and the Kyoto protocol above jobs, wealth and national security. Allison can talk about median housing all she wants but the fact remains more mortgages were defaulted under Keating than in any other era. Allison can lament the levels of debt too but can she really ignore the fact that economically Australia is better placed than ever before to sustain the debt? Unemployment at 5% goes a long way too.

Most conservatives would admit the invasion of Iraq was strategically flawed but would certainly not lament Sadam's removal- another contention supported within Australia. Most Australians can't understand the fuss about 'children overboard'- sinking a boat first is probably worse than throwing kids in the ocean.

It would be great if there was a truly electable alternative government that could actually do something about some of the points made in the article. But it appears that once again we will have no choice but to keep the status quo. Even with it's many faults the Liberal party has proved an effective government of this country. Lyn Allison makes some good points but provides no solutions whatsoever and by basically saying that Australians are gullible and unable to decide what is best for them has lost my vote yet again (I have previously voted Democrats).