Richard, hopefully some of the Canberra Press gallery bother to read this sort of thing, it might save them having to ask a bunch of silly & predictable questions and get down to tin tacks when they interview Bob & co.

They might be interested to know for example if the Greens are going to attempt to do anything about the ticket voting system in Senate elections.

I am attempting to generate some momentum to effect change in this area and have recently asked Bob Brown if the Greens would include my suggested solution as part of their platform.

Go to www.myspace.com/savethesenate for details.

I would be interested in your views.

Ah, politics. dont yah just love it. There must be an election in the air.

Richard, both the Greens and the Democrats need to do more than just educate voters on the importance of gaining the balance of power in the Senate.

As progressive parties they need to provide and educate the voters with progressive policies that the voters can understand and will vote for.

Unfortunatly, with our compulsory voting system, the majority of voters are just a bunch of apathectic sheep. They have to vote so will vote for whoever their parents voted for. The old context of being a 'labor voter' or a 'liberal voter 'and voting for 'the brand' has become so intrenched, that both major parties just need to 'parachute in' a name and the sheep will vote for them.

When I see and hear someone who I beleive will represent me at any level of government, then I will vote for that person, not the brand. Unfortunatly there are not many people out there who I would want to represent me.

I do think that should either Bob Brown or Lyn Alison live in my electorate I would vote for them.

Because I believe they are really working for the people, and the future of our community and not just for economic rationalism

There is nothing 'progressive' about degeneracy.

Bob Brown supported the ACT being the centre of xxx rated pornography, when the issue came up some years ago now.. he opposed censorship of this ONE major source of mail order sleeze.

NOW WE SEE what this has led to.... abundant CHILD ABUSE in indigenous communities, and God knows how much child abuse in our non indigenous communities is being fuelled by Bob Browns opposition to clamping down on this.

To be fair.. Brown did not need to promote XXX pornography availabilty from the ACT for it to be available.. PHILIP RUDDOCK also feels that Adult Australians should be free to choose what they like to view..... and presumably that reflects the view of the Coalition ? or at least..those with the power.

BUT WAIT...there's more.. suddenly its not ok to send this garbage to Indigenous communities ? Is this 'racism' ? is this saying "Adult Aborigines are less capable of making good viewing choices than Non Indigenous Australians" ?

Would Mr RUDD be any more likely to stem the tide of filth from Canberra ? "Pole dancers, Drunk at strip club"....err.... unlikely.

So...who does that leave us ? Well.. Family First might be a goer, but to avoid being seen as a 'Fundamentalist/Christian controlled' party, I'd doubt they would take a firm stand on the Porn..but hey.. a PUBLIC STATEMENT from them could always prove me wrong. I'd sure welcome that.

"In the past both Bob Brown and Christine Milne, held balance of power in the Tasmanian state parliament under Labor and Liberal Governments respectively. "

Not true Richard - they were part of a government coalition (and claimed to be so) in the lower house - not a seperate party holding the government to account and keeping the upper chamber independent. And quite frankly both times it didn't work and government in Tasmania was tunred into a shambles.

"the Greens' record is that they be even more scrupulous than other parties in maintaining supply." and "If the Greens pick up enough seats at the next election then they will be unable to block a budget, or any other piece of legislation, without the support of one of the major parties."

So why not simply rule out ever blocking supply - why keep it as a weapon in reserve just in case

The Democrats were a product of their time but were bound to die out as they never stood for anything in the political spectrum whereas The Greens are part of an international political movement and way of thinking. I agree that the AD self-destructed over the GST but before that -- and I was working in Federal Parliament as a staffer from 1986 to 1992 - both Janine Haines and Cheryl Kernot showed their true colours by pouring vitriol over Senator Jo Vallentine, the first Green in Canberra. Other Dems like Norm Sanders and Janet Powell were happy to work with the Greens but the AD never shrugged off their origins from the 1970s especially in South Australia.

80% of Western democracies have coalitions and they make better decisions. Hopefully Tasmania will join the States with the Greens holding the balance after 2010 to stop the disaster that is Paul Lennon's oligarchy, as well as in Canberra after July 2008.

It is extremely unlikely that the Greens will end up with the balance of power in the Senate. The swing back to Labor should give it three quotas in every state, while the swing away from the coalition, which has 19 long-term senators not facing election, is unlikely to push it below three quotas in sufficient states to deprive it (or at worst it and Family First) of a blocking majority.

The quota for the Senate is c14.3 per cent. Two quotas need 28.6 per cent; three, 42.9 per cent; four, 57.2 per cent; five, 71.5 per cent; six, 85.8 per cent. The remaining 14.2 per cent may contribute to the election of no one. A major party does not have to get a full quota in its own right but can be pushed to one by the preferences of micro-parties.

If Labor believes that recommending Senate preferences to FF will get FF to recommend House preferences to it, it will be prepared to face the unlikely prospect of a stronger FF presence in the Senate. It will obviously take account of any Green reaction to such a decision as it would like to have Green preferences in the House as well. It has to determine whose preferences are of more use, which will involve a consideration of not only how many extra it will get if each group “directs” preferences, but also the resulting effects on the margins in the seats in which preferences are “directed”.

In summary, the Senate result is of almost no importance to Labor. It will act to maximise its House seats.

The best strategy for the Greens is to preference Labor in every House seat and wait for the almost inevitable double dissolution, when the 7.7 per cent quota will give them an excellent chance of winning the Senate balance of power in their own right.