Yep,

The NOALITION and their fearless leader Dud Dutton need to adopt ttbn far right One Nation style policies and watch their vote disintegrate to the same level as that of the Lovely Pauline... 5%. It would be an improvement, as the NOALITION'S only policy now is to say NO to everything that helps battling Aussies!

ttbn, you left one policy off....RING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY!

Dear Ttbn,

«do the rest of you agree/disagree?»

Did you mean to ask us whether we agree that these measures are necessary in order for the coalition to regain government, or whether we agree with the measures in themselves?

I don't care who is in government - they all are evil anyway.

I agree with 5 of these measures.
I oppose 2 of the measures.
I am undecided about the other 3.

«Do you have anything to add?»

I could add 100's of other good measures, but I have neither a clue nor an interest as to whether these would improve the coalition's chances or otherwise.

Yuyutsu

They are the policies I think that the Coalition needs to push if they want to gain government. Do you agree or not? I can't think of another way to put the question. If I say that I would vote Liberal if they had those policies, would that be clearer? Or, not having any particular regard for the Liberal Party, should I have said that “a” party with those policies would get my vote? But, there are only two parties who can form a government in our system, and the other one will never have those policies.

Neither will the gutless Liberals, who are now small “l” liberals. There is little chance that my wish list will be realised. I'm one of the disillusioned conservatives, right wingers if you like, who has been effectively disenfranchised since John Howard made a fool of himself and lost his own seat.

In the meantime, don't be shy: which policies do you like, and which don't you like.

Dear Ttbn,

«They are the policies I think that the Coalition needs to push if they want to gain government. Do you agree or not?»

Thank you for clarifying: since I am not involved with party politics, I know very little about the subject, so please allow me to bow out of your question rather than having to make an ignorant guess.

«should I have said that “a” party with those policies would get my vote?»

Come elections, I always open the policy web-pages of all participating parties and read them carefully as if I never heard of that party (or independent) before, then I give them each positive marks for policies I support and negative marks for policies I oppose, then I add up the points and rank my preferences accordingly, from the highest positive to the lowest negative.

Naturally I have other policy issues in mind that are very important to me, so I give them more points whereas I might perhaps give only one point for the policies that are particularly important to you. From your list, though, I would give generous points for #5 and #6.

«In the meantime, don't be shy: which policies do you like, and which don't you like.»

I like the policies #2, #3, #4, #5 and #6.
I dislike policies #1 and #9.

I am undecided about #7 because I believe that government should not be involved in education.
I am undecided about #8 because I think the ABC has an important role in allowing citizens to be informed about current news (which includes changes in legislation and regulations that we are legally required to know about) and to obtain music without having to be exposed to unwholesome commercial advertising - but on the other hand, that is tax-payer's money.
I am undecided about #10 because I don't want to be subjected to any leaders, to any Big-Brother.

Yuyutsu

I don't think that the government should be involved in education either; particularly now when they are brainwashing and telling kids what to think instead of how to think.

.

Dear ttbn,

.

Whatever the government : left, right or centre - - -
.

We don’t need a law to combat misinformation in general. We need a law to combat disinformation in particular. Misinformation is false information. Disinformation is a deliberate lie.

People pass on information all the time without fact-checking it. There is no need to outlaw misinformation in general. That would be a waste of time and money.

A study carried out by Statista in 2023 found that 28.8% of all information circulating in the US, UK, Slovakia and Japan on politics, COVID-19, climate change, and war in Ukraine was false. Statista also found that 26% of Americans were very confident in their ability to recognize fake news.

So, let’s leave it at that.

The problem is to weed out the deliberate lies from the mass of false information that is constantly being defused in the media every day. That would already be a huge, difficult and costly task.

Why do people spread fake news ? Some do it for fun, as a hoax, to cause harm to somebody, for political or financial gain (computer cookies piggyback on fake news that spreads like wildfire), for fame, to gain more followers on social media, etc.

In Australia, 99% of adults use the internet, and yet – according to research from Western Sydney University, Queensland University of Technology and the University of Canberra – 30% of the adult population have low levels of media literacy. It’s 57% for those aged 56–74 and 75% for people aged 75 years and older.

Foreign interference is a major problem, including cyberwarfare and clandestine activities carried out by, or on behalf of, a foreign power interfering in our decision-making and political processes that negatively impact our values and democracy.

It’s not just by legislation that we can fix the problem. Maybe AI can help. We obviously need to make an effort to improve media literacy, not only for the 99% of adults who use the internet but for the rest of the population as well, starting at kindergarden.

.