Aaargh, that $#*%^ missing word syndrome strikes again, as it does in at least 50% of my posts! ):>(

But we can develop a sustainability strategy in Australia. This is vastly more important THAN battling to do our bit towards climate change.

And population stabilisation is an essential component of it.

Can our two leaders work together?I doubt it, seeing the latest idiot ad by Labor showing the "prime minister's" car speed by a group of waiting children. Here's some more moronic ideas for the imbecile department:
A group of geriatrics being runover by the "PM's" car.
A group of infants in in prams being run over by the "PM's" car.
A lost kitten[always appealing] being run over by the "PM's" car.
Peter Garret and Maxine singing a duet of ,"Labor'How Great Thou Art"
both being splatted by the "PM's" car.
Then find some common sense and apply it instead of using moronic melodrama.

Howard and Rudd working together? Duh! Have you never heard of brand differentiation? About as likely as Pepsi and Coke working together on the ultimate cola, and about as useful.

Emissions trading? great way to ensure that the poorest party in the transaction carries the can (eg. Indonesians losing access to their forests). Without a rocksolid and DECLINING cap in emissions its just another way for merchant bankers to gouge cash from gov and the rest of us. Funny, Malcolm Turnbull was former heard of Goldman Sachs (merchant bankers to the uber rich) in Australia, just another one of those happy accidents of the plutocracy i guess.

Well done Tor Hundloe using fisheries as an example of successful cap and trade, not enough comedy on OLO (orange roughy the latest fishery closed due to collapsing stocks).

The highly inbred economic fundamentalists think they're being daring, dabbling in ecojargon, but Einstein had their measure decades ago - you can't fix a suicide cult by giving the high priests a new dictionary.

since bill hicks is being channeled elswhere on this site...

'i'll give you politics in america...sorry australia:

"i think the puppet on the left represents my belifes"
"i think the puppet on the right shares my opinion."

"hold on, isnt it the same guy holding up both puppets?"

'go abck to bed australia, your government is in control. here's big brother, watch this and get fat and stupid'.

right on the money, ludwig. population control is the elephant in the ballroom. the failure to discuss this is a visible sign of social insanity. the insanity begins in leaving the national destiny in the hands of politicians, politicians can not deal with this change in our relationship to nature, the dynamics of parliamentary rule make it impossible.

i believe only true democracy can mobilize the people of australia to the actions needed for survival. i have also been forced to the conclusion that australians are incapable of democracy. consequently, many will be forced into poverty by the erratic and unfair response to the crisis that politician rule will generate.

let's hope it's only poverty, not death. i console myself with the fundamental law of political science: "you get the government you deserve".

What exists in bipartisan form is an acceptance that climate change is a problem which must be tackled.

It is commonly said that nothing has been done in 10 years, however until recently the Howard Govt has had a foot in both camps. Internally the federal govt has achieved a number of important steps, however it created a perception that climate change is a soft issue and action on it is pandering to environmentalists.

This has turned around and with the economic dimension included, climate change is no longer considered a soft issue.

It is good in a democracy that we have political parties which offer different solutions. Howard is on the way out, but is obviously trying to bridge the gap to a future Costello government who will probably put in place the necessary economic mechanisms to deal with climate change.

Labor already holds the left so its trying to appeal to the centre and some conservatives. If anything, they are trying to differentiate themselves from the Greens.

Ultimately, even though the marketing is different, both Labor and Liberal will soon be implementing a carbon trading scheme involving a price on carbon. They'll then let business do the hard yards. And interestingly, most businesses are looking forward to meeting this challenge.