I wanted to read The Latham Diaries too but my local bookstore doesn’t have a ‘fiction and fantasy’ section as yet.

What’s wrong with Australian politics? Let’s see: we had a leader who terrorized taxi drivers; a politician who turned the bucolic backwater of O’Possum Bay into a capital city to get better T/A rates; an MP sleeping in his car at truck stops to get T/A; an MP who didn’t know whether his car was a four cylinder or a V8 (I’d like to sell him a car); an MP who forgot he owned a half-share in a concreting company; an MP whose only functioning organ was his penis (he must’ve been a lot of fun at cabinet meetings); an MP who had to have the law changed retrospectively to keep him from being charged with fraud; an MP who couldn’t tell a colour TV from a black and white TV; the protection of a high court judge whose file has been sealed for a number of years; a current high court judge who broke the law for 13 continuous years; another judge who enjoyed political protection while he trawled the crappers at various railway stations looking for young boys; a judge with a fine political pedigree whose fondness for the amber ale was known by all except those who appointed him; and, the never ending raids conducted on the taxpayers’ purse by MPs.

The above is just a small sample of what is laughingly referred to as Australian politics. Why would the media become fixated on such trivia? Isn’t the answer axiomatic? It’s the only bleedin’ thing our policians seem to do. The ordinary punter has no hope of breaking the political omerta which serves the two major parties well.

Mr Latham, a politician is a person who has risen above the pack and is not a person who behaves like someone from the bottom of the pack.

An interesting article, Peter, backed by very interesting commentaries. Notice you favour Mark Latham a little, with a couple of commentary agreements. Keep it all up, mates because it is what our politics sorely need. As you said, Peter, it shows the lack of both sides of our government's political thought, when we are still led to follow and what America follows, worn-out politico-economic philosophies thrown out once at the end of the 1900s, and then once again during the Great Depression.

The saddest thing is that Labor is too gutless to give out a genuine boo, which at least Mark Latham wasn't short of.

One point that needs dialoguing right now, is that we need to really take up the argument against the BiLateral-Trade agreement, not only about milkies and fruitgrowers and many graingrowers going broke, but about the sneaky arrangement by the Howard Government that dirtied our bio-custom laws by letting in a shipment of Brazilian carcase beef, suspected of foot and mouth infection.

In WA we got word from Queensland stockies that Howard had successfully quietened it all down.

As an old farming director, could reckon all you other onliners must do your damndest to expose it, otherwise as far as us cockies and cattle breeders are concerned you're not worth a cracker.

I don’t believe we are over-represented. I believe we are not represented. I don’t know what Politicians/Bureaucrats do with their time, but it seems like they don’t have time to actually do their job unless of course their job is just to warm the seat, liaise with the media and accept and sign whatever is put in front of them.

So many times I have heard Politicians/Bureaucrat say that they get so many letters that they can’t read them all and they use that as an excuse. I can’t help but wonder what they do and who is reading these letters and who gets to decide what matter should be brought to the attention of the Minister?

My experiences show that if you have a problem with a Government Department, the Department that you have the problem with is the one that handles the matter, and they present the picture that they want to present to the Minister for signature. Of course the Minister takes the word of his fellow Bureaucrats on face value as he has great faith in his fellow public servants and the matter is deemed closed! That is the problem with the system; the whole way the system is set up acts and works to allow issues and matters to be covered up and closed internally. The public is being denied procedural fairness and natural justice.

Labor and Liberal both use the same process and procedures as at the end of the day they both benefit from it as they can turn a blind eye and ignore what is going on in their Departments and what may negatively impact on their reputation.

You should see how the system has dealt with my families serious complaints and allegations of misconduct and victimization aimed at children http://jolandachallita.typepad.com/education/

Both Labor and Liberal not only use the same procedures they don’t get involved in each others processes.

Politicians are puppets, and the media - well they want to be invited to lunch. Until the public start speaking out they will continue to play their game and get rewarded for it.

The sooner we all get off the nipple of Big Govt,the better our lives will be.The "Nanny State" has created more problems than it has solved.Our Govts have just taken the extra GST dollars and grew impotent self serving bureauracies.

Govt is always finding new ways of making private enterprise more competitive,but they almost never rein in their own waste and excesses.No money for infrastructure,no planning and no guts.

We should rename the NSW Labor Party "The Bonobo Party".Bonobos are related to the Chimps.They solve problems and conflicts by having sex with anything they can touch.

About 12mths ago a Sydney train worker said to a complaining passenger,"It's f.k.d,it's f.k.d ,its always f.k.d,so get in the f.k.g train and don't complain!"

It pretty much summed up NSW Labor our Bonobo Party.

The REALLY sad thing about politics is that when you vote a party out, you don't necessarily get one that's any better - just one that's different for the first few months.

As for Independents, we had that experience in my electorate several years ago. It didn't take long to find out that the Libs had been paying the rent for his campaign office and some of his printing costs before the election, but by then it was too late.

I do concede that there are actually a couple of Independents that are doing what we pay them for but these really are the exception.

The closest we get to a Democracy in this country is a Duopoly or Oligarchy and we are at the mercy of media barons and other vested interests but also of our own self-interests.

We should be less complacent and more volatile on our voting and our reaction to Government Policy. This would keep them on their toes and not take us for granted quite so much.

I think our next great leader is among us now - certainly not in parliamentary office at the moment.

This might be our anthem - while we close our eyes and dream of stuffing those $10,000 bribes where the sun don't shine - in small denominations - slooowly.

Then Freedom couldn't stand the glare
O' Royalty's regalia,
She left the loafers where they were,
An' came out to Australia.

But now across the mighty main
The chains have come ter bind her –
She little thought to see again
The wrongs she left behind her.

Our parents toil'd to make a home –
Hard grubbin 'twas an' clearin' –
They wasn't crowded much with lords
When they was pioneering.

But now that we have made the land
A garden full of promise,
Old Greed must crook 'is dirty hand
And come ter take it from us.

So we must fly a rebel flag,
As others did before us,
And we must sing a rebel song
And join in rebel chorus.

Henry Lawson

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