ahhgggg Sir Winston not perfect?

ouch that hurt, lol. :P

Bronwyn
Costello got us out of the last mess ALP left us in. It took ten years. Its taken ALP one year to blow it. All that surplus is gone already.

Kevins just pledged to deliver almost THREE BILLION dollars over the next five years to our Muslim neighours.
Thats nice for sure but were we asked. Another thing we dont ever get a follow up report on whats been done with the Australians tax funds. Its just given!.

Under the circumstances we should have put that into factories and plants to reopen the employment in the regional areas which would improve but not solve many animal welfare isues as well.

BTW Kevin Rudd has just cut BACK big time on migrants coming here.

No I am with Col and M on this one.

Wait another 18 months till people really start to suffer.

Of course ALP will borrow and try to keep welfare running the country and that when we might see some interesting policy changes.

. What a pity people just wanted a change from Howard. Well they will get their wish thats for sure.

Costello would make a good PM

I agree Julie will run for the job down the track.

RobP

I broadly agree with the sentiments expressed by you and Pelican, though I'm afraid Tony Blair's example doesn't give me a lot of faith in any 'Third Way'.

The only reason I've been using the labels Left and Right is to argue against Hasbeen's claim that it is the Left that has got us into this financial mess. I agree, attempting to use these terms to alone carry the debate is both lazy and unhelpful. Having said that, they are useful markers and will be with us to stay. No matter how you try and fight it, your stance on every issue places you somewhere along that Left Right continuum. It's a useful indicator, nothing more.

"This means not having regulations that lock people out of making a contribution."

I hear what you're saying, but equally, especially in the light of a largely complacent and apathetic population and considering the urgency of acting on climate change, if government doesn't regulate, many of the changes that are needed just won't happen. Unfortunately, many people won't do the right thing until they're made to. Ideally, regulation should be accompanied by example, support and incentive.

PALEIF

Costello had over ten years to move on climate change. He did nothing. Instead he handed out baby bonuses and told us all to procreate. How out of touch is that in a world beset by population pressures? Costello's answers in the current economic downturn would be very much along the lines of getting us all back to business as usual, which is completely unsustainable from a health and environmental standpoint, and would only result in another financial crash further down the track anyway.

"I hear what you're saying, but equally, especially in the light of a largely complacent and apathetic population and considering the urgency of acting on climate change, if government doesn't regulate, many of the changes that are needed just won't happen. Unfortunately, many people won't do the right thing until they're made to. Ideally, regulation should be accompanied by example, support and incentive."

Bronwyn,

I agree to the extent that regulation should be used when it works to get a good result. You're right of course, that many people in this country are apathetic and won't do anything without some stick or the threat of some. However, there are also many people, particularly in the developing world, who would benefit from a degree of carrot. That's possibly where regulations, or at least their flow-on effects, could be relaxed.

The important point is to look at how regulations work, learn from and fix past mistakes and nurture the systems that work well. It requires a continual weighing and examining of existing regulatory systems and new ideas.

Bronwyn,

I agree that Blair/Clinton/Brown are not good examples and all contributed in part to the system that led us to our current situation. The principle of the Third Way however is sound but I fear those who have been labelled as proponents are still guilty of thinking too much within the old way.

The type of Third Way thinking required is as you said "Ideally, regulation should be accompanied by example, support and incentive."

Current events demonstrate that unregulated capitalism does not work in the same way that communism doesn't work. I am old enough to remember when people strived to make money but it was with an air of "a little bit for me and a little bit for him" without the emphasis on outrageous profits at the expense of others all down the line.

The politics of greed is not pretty and unfortunately humans not only need incentives to achieve but some regulation to ensure that power and wealth is distributed more evenly and that reasonable lifestyles are not just enjoyed by the few. The modern trend of free market thinking does not provide those safeguards.

Pelican ,the laws and regulation were all there,however no one enforced them.The corruption is too broad and far reaching so only a few scape goats will be sacrificed to appease the masses.

Many now want to shrink into socialism.A Govt controlled economy has proven to be a disaster in the past.What has changed to ameliorate their excesses?You only have to look at NSW to see what an extrapolation of this philosophy will do for us nationally.