We do need another major party to represent the needs of those who work in private enterprise and small business.85% of Labor's power is underpinned by Public Service Unions.The Coalition basically looks after the big end of town and ordinary workers are feeling the pinch of paying high taxes to maintain our bloated state bureaucracies and being diligent enough to meet the demands of private enterprise bosses.No wonder they are not happy chappies.

The Democrats just want more socialism thus more taxes and bureaucracies.If you want to know a party's real allegiance,study carefully whom they feed off.

Yes Lynn... It appears that you are making a fundamental mistake...

You are trying to help us forget that you guys didn't listen to your members & supporters hence the GST, and you are so willing to negotiate that people like me, who on occasion, just expect you to say NO, are let down by your insistence on negotiating.

Since you guys got rid of Natasha as leader you have slid quickly into obscurity. And to think I was hoping you might have been Australia's 3rd effective party. Natasha was popular... Ouch that hurt the other Senators! She had a recognisable and likeable public persona - Ouch that hurt too!

Is there any member of your Senate Team (For want of a better word) that hasn't been leader yet? If there is, it must be their turn next... OR, they may miss their turn because your party may no longer exist after the next election. Check your member lists Lyn... you might already not be a party...HA!

Why have many of your members left Lyn? Why has your vote slumped to almost zip? It must be because you listen to constituents... Yeah right... your Senators don't even respect your parties members.

What did you guys do to Don Chipp's inspirational party... wrecked it!
Congratulations! A job well done!

This comment on the comments about Democrats is deliberately constructive.
What can be done to check sweeping generalisations and opinions based on single events, and ignorance through media obliteration? It is a pity that political debate is conducted in sound-bytes. We are not well-informed.

Rather than money spent on TV political advertising (ie spin) I would like to see one advertised data-base Electoral Commission site that the media and citizens could use as a source.

On it, all political parties list
1. What they achieved in Parliament in the last six years (or other fixed date). This includes government legislation, other parties’ amendments and defeats, committee outcomes, etc.

2. Policies for this election in sufficient detail to show more than motherhood statements and including funding.

3 Thumbnails of candidates when available. What have
they done in their lives so far?

4. FAQ and the different party responses in under 200 words.

5. Responses to slurs and distortions in the media.

I see the Democrats’ main problems as
1. Meg Lees' enormous mistake over the GST - a lesson there.

2. Media obliteration, e.g
a) Anthony Green's Page 1 assertion in the Age that the trouble with the Democrats is that they have no policies, when they have a problem in having detailed policies on just about everything.

b) Push-polling for 2-party preferred voting, as if there were no other parties.

c) More attention to Family First, and to unpopular minor policies of Greens and Democrats than to their core policies.

d) Public ignorance not dispelled e.g. A poll could find out how many people believe that if their first vote goes to a minor party, their whole vote is lost. i.e. ignorance about preferential voting.

Lyn Allison spoke her honest mind recently when commenting on the new testing processes for immigrants.

“it's conservative, it's very male and I don't think it necessarily represents the history that a lot of people can relate to.”

http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2007/s2047773.htm

So according to this democratic logic, the only immigrants that should be allowed into the country would have to be female, (as males are no good).

But of course no member of the democrats has ever been known to be gender prejudiced, and no member of the democrats has ever been known to stereotype a gender (ever, ever).

But as a “male”, the democrats won’t be getting my vote.

The underlying thing that the Democrats just don't get is that when they accepted the GST in a modified version they actually sold out on everyone who was expecting them to just say NO.

Even though the Democrats have done some wonderful things in the Senate... with one fell swoop they undermined totally their "We'll Keep the Bastards Honest" campaigning and handed their voters across to the Greens.

If they are so politically inept to give away their base constituency to another party then what else could they do?

Even the GST exemption on books was taken off once they lost their power. Johnnie (I couldn't lie straight in bed) Howard put the tax on books!

See what happens when you do deals with the devil Lyn? They overturn your deal the first opportunity they get.

So what has changed in your party that would make anyone want to trust you again Lyn?

Do your Senators still want to be trusted to make decisions on the run? (OOps the GST decision was an on the run decision)

Have you learnt the lesson of actually LISTENING to your party members and your constituency Lyn?

Lyn if you want to get any of your core constituency back you had better make it known loud and clear that you have LEARNT from your mistakes and that you PROMISE never to let down your constituency again. Do your egos make you too proud to apologise sincerely, loudly and often?

But hey what do you guys care you will all retire on a high Tax Payer Funded superannuation anyway... and being politicians you will probably sleep very comfortably on that!

It's fine to crow about the good things you guys have done ( and I admit there have been plenty) BUT when you really needed to be counted you rolled over. So much for negotiating and keeping the bastards honest!

HRS

Lyn Allison didn't say males were not allowed to migrate to Australia.

Give your agenda a rest for once. It gets tiresome.