Wobbles, as long as we keep letting them get away with it they're going to keep doing it to us!
Actually, we don't sell our votes- we just rent them out for the best deal on voting day.

I am so bored with both men that I refuse to waste my vote on either of their parties at the election on the 24th November. So lets all hope that its a hung Parliment with the minor parties ( no religious nuts ) holding the balance.

that's cute. lectures on principle by a guy who advocates torture.

I actually hope 'the religous nuts' hold the balance of power. It certainly beats 'the Irreligious nuts'.

I have never felt represented by either of the major parties and still don't . I vote from the bottom up. The conservatives go last and then I apportion votes in accordance with the policies of the candidates, ending up by giving my first preference to the candidate with whom I am most impressed after an examination of their policies.

I will not get the opportunity to cast a vote for Howard or Rudd so I have the obligation to consider that the candidate of my choice is someone to whom I can relate and who is neither a religious nut nor a right wing fanatic but a candidate who will work for constituents in my electorate.

Like many others I am cynical because I am convinced that all politicians have to do whatever it takes to get elected or re-elected. Good policies and good government don't necessarily win elections. I do not blame Mr Howard, or Mr Rudd for this because we are all somewhat responsible for the way the game is played.

We need a creative solution. How to do less politics and get more good government? At present it is Politics 98% Government 2%.

One idea, though admittedly highly flawed, is to have a more permanent cadre of public servants who are skilled and knowledgeable enough about the important issues, and then committees or juries of intelligent citizens who review the pros and cons presented by the public servants and then make the decisions for the mandarins to implement. We could form the citizen juries using procedures akin to empanelling juries for criminal cases, so everyone could get a turn.

We would need, I admit, to castrate all the mandarin class and guarantee them an opulent life so that their highest motive would be to serve the country. But it would be better than the present system of hypocracies and briberies.