Candide made an interesting point. I know she speaks for someone like myself. Someone who does remember previous governments. Rudd moved the labor party where the liberals used to be.

Sneekeepete, alluded to the increasing insular meaness of the last government. By the overwhelming election victory it became crystal clear they were beginning to represent only a very small section of the Australian people.

CJMorgan, exactly. It is great to see a younger generation without the tired cynicism. A very necessary commodity when starting out on life. My mother who is nudging 80 is thankful she doesn't have to start out now in this overcrowded world full of people who mainly obsess about economics without having learned a thing about the horrors of a world at war. So much for the war to end all wars. She is depressed about the sacrifices made by her generation.

As Mercurius said, the future does belong to Generation Y and their offspring.

Well I agree with the younger set.

I do remember living under labor governments and without the benefit of a mining boom we had very good lives.

The facts I remember of times under labor is different to how those times are being portrayed today.

My memory.

The older set of the time were complaining when interest rates were going down because they relied on high rates for their wealth growth. Now the older set complain how high the interest rates were back then because now they rely on increasing property values for their wealth growth. So self interest only. Both seemed to be happy with the status quo of the time and resent any change.

Next is unemployment. Truly anyone that does still have some memory intact would know that unemployment figures were highly overstated back then. Now they are highly understated. The biggest problem for the government was the black economy. People being paid under the table and people being paid unemployment while working was rampant.So improvements have been made to collect taxes from those that work and GST covers a lot of other money that misses a tax cycle so the government is now better off, but not necessarily the people.

But on egalitarism, human rights and a fair go, well Howard sold out on these Aussie values. As the saying goes, we are a society not an economy.

Perhaps the younger set have a better big picture than memory challenged selfish oldies worried about losing money we never really earned in the true sense of the word.

So we hand over to the young...as we should and hope that....

Australia has it's mojo back.

In their arrogance, Clementine Ford and her useless generation assume that countries like New Zealand would have accepted them as ‘refugees’ from the Howard Government. The naïve little darlings also overlook the obvious question arising from their pouting and posturing: “Why the hell didn’t you try leave during the 11.5 years you were suffering so badly under the Howard Government?”

They can’t leave Mummy and Daddy, that’s why. Mummy and Daddy Generation X-exers are, to be fair about it, the real villains: they produced Generation Y and tried to be friends with them, instead of proper parents. As soon as they turn 16, buy them a car; let them live at home for nothing or next to nothing even when they get a job; finance their ‘gap year’; excuse their abominable behaviour because some whacko psychologist decides that they are not fully mature until the are 25 years of age (all the while defending their rights to indulge in the good side of maturity, of course), and so on, until we have the really horrid Y Generation.

The shrinks tell us that the both-working-full-time parents of the brats in question are feeling guilty because they ‘weren’t there’ for their offspring: a reasonable hypothesis, but still no excuse for inflicting Generation Y on the world.

If we look seriously at the deteriorating state of the world, we can see that the attitude of the Y Generation is a symptom of much worse to come. As an atheist, I obviously don’t believe in the Bible; but, I have to admit to giving thought to Armageddon and Sodom and Gomorrah at times.

I can’t think of a group better suited to bringing about total destruction than Generation Y when it finally takes over. Previous generations have done some pretty bad things, but the appalling quality of Generation Y will bring on the big one.

I’m glad that the Y’s themselves and their apologists will be the ones to cop it. Keep sneering and laughing at me while you still have the chance, you jerks

Dear, oh dear Leigh! You'll give all us atheists a bad name, ha,ha,ha!

What's happened here is simply that an article has been written by a youngster and it shows in the words she has used. As we age, we see things quite differently from generations on either side of the "generation gap." At almost 54 years of age, I look back in abject horror at some of the things I've done in my younger days. We're all getting older and the bigger the generational gap, the worse the differences seems, but gen Y will find their feet just the same as we older ones did.

Clementine has submitted an article which gives an overwhelming impression that she doesn't like the policies of the Howard led Government. And yes, she has "stuck her tongue out" a little, but in all fairness to Clementine, I do believe Howard deserved it.

Howard had us living in a climate of fear. Fear of refugees, fear of immigrants, fear of losing your job or having your income eroded by the introduction of Workchoises. He had the Australian Press living in fear. They simply weren't game to print what they really thought of Howard and his cronies. Let's not even go near the sedition laws whereby a person can be arrested like a common criminal without excuse and not even allowed to discuss what happened whilst in custody with his wife or partner. Laws against Australian citizens, such as those, are nothing less than ghastly.

I for one am glad Howard went out the way he did. He was never a figure history would remember for his greatness, but rather Howard will be remembered for what he was, a megalomaniac who sought eventually to put his interests in becoming the longest serving Australian PM ahead of the needs of his party. In fact, I doubt Howard will be remembered at all.
Aime.

Sebsequent generations have to pay for the retirement of the previous generation that paid for the subsequent generations education and upbringing and everything else we take for granted, like working conditions, infrastructure and so on, into infinity.

This intergenerational indebtness thing goes both ways and quibbling in one direction only is so non-sensical, it defies comprehension.

Its the nature of things, the cycle of life.

Wake up, get a grip, deal with it and try being, er, thankful, you glass-half-empty cry babies.

Country Gal, subtlely and politely reminds Leigh that
- I'd be a little less bitchy if I were you - this is the generation whose taxes are going to fund your nursing home place. A little more generational respect would be nice.-

and may I add when assessing your scabies outbreak....how much kero goes into the bath water!

But seriously now....Howard's gone and his Iraq legacy persists (and our high petrol prices to fund the "fight on terrorism") and yes, we do get the leaders we deserve. White Australia is only two long lifetimes old, so yes, we gonna make lots of mistakes before we reach our historical adolescence. We still have a very stable democracy and that above all, this is most pertinent. And as a consequence we can have our say without being removed (permanently) in the early hours by the regime. So let's enjoy our ability to throw a bit of banter around and express our opinions openly and honestly. It's a great thing!

miss allaneous