Celivia,

And look at the mess Holland is in! Probably the reason you left.

Forgot.

Yes, people once were allowed to vote by dint of their being commonwealth citizens. But now, even Poms have to apply for citizenship just like everyone else.

Don't take too much notice of what Mr. Madden says.

Leigh

If you were enrolled to vote in 1984 and were a Tanzanian 18 year old resident, you could now be a 31 year old Tanzanian resident and be eligible to vote. Even though you were not a citizen.

So your statement "The law says that only citizens can vote" is, how should I put it so you understand, WRONG.

At this moment the Netherlands is the 16th largest economy of the world. Between 1998 and 2000 annual economic growth (GDP) averaged nearly 4%, well above the European average. Growth slowed considerably in 2001-05 as part of the global economic slowdown, but the second quarter of 2006 showed a promising 2.8%.

Growth will likely exceed 3% both in 2006 and 2007. Inflation is 1.3% and is expected to stay low at about 1.5% in the coming years.

According to the definition used by the Dutch Statistics Agency CBS, unemployment is at 5.5% of the labor force. By Eurostat standards however, unemployment in the Netherlands is at only 3.8% - the lowest rate of all EU member states.

"Holland" is in a mess? 2.8% second qtr growth, (Australia 0.3%) Inflation 1.3% (Australia 4%) Unemployment, a least they measure it accurately, significantly lower than Australia.

Maybe I realise now why you don't comment, you are so ill-informed :)

Steve,

Leigh has no solutions or suggestions, just whinging and nit picking as I see it.

She has many hours in a day to while away looking to be the first to swoop on new threads and have a unsubstantiated ,baseless grizzle about everything and nothing.

I just hope to ignore most of the time..

Sorry Leigh..but you are yourself a straight shooter I believe?

Steve,
Thanks for setting Leigh straight.
You know much more about the Dutch economy than I do! So I appreciated your comments very much.

Leigh:
“And look at the mess Holland is in!“
Leigh, what mess are you referring to if not to the economy?

Perhaps the latest elections in Holland? Yes they are struggling very much to form a coalition. It may take a long time and it’s a real drama atm.
The Christen democrats (CDA) gained the most votes, with Labor second and Socialist Party third. The problem is that CDA and Labor need another party to make up the 150 seats.

Labor wants SP in the coalition, but the CDA prefer another Christian party rather than SP.
CDA are scared, because Labor and SP together would have more seats than the CDA and on many issues, it would be SP/Labor against CDA.

Labor and SP have agreed they can work together. Labor is not willing to accept the small, Christian party that CDA prefer.
The queen is trying to help out now, with help of an independent political advisor; much negotiation will be needed.

Leigh, the results of this election were reached even though about 20 percent of Dutch voters are not Dutch and were able to vote.
Voting is voluntary, but more than 80% of the eligible population voted.

Most non-Dutch voters are the permanent residents from Muslim countries.

I think it’s a good thing that the Muslims were able to vote because they wouldn't have voted for a racist party, would they? They voted for a party that will give them a fair go. That’s I think, why the Liberals (VVD) have lost power now, after their introduction of strict immigration rules and regulations.

Sorry if I bored anyone with some Dutch politics, but I just wanted to show that non-Australian voters may not be all that bad as people like Leigh might think.

If our Muslim residents would be allowed to vote like the Dutch Muslim voters did- then many won’t vote for the Liberals.
Isn't that a win/win situation? :)

Steve Madden “If you were enrolled to vote in 1984 and were a Tanzanian 18 year old resident, you could now be a 31 year old Tanzanian resident ”

Steve, I know this might seem a bit pedantic but if you want to promote your view with a modicum of credibility,

A Tanzanian who is 18 in 1984 (22 years ago) will be around 40 years of age today, unless you are suggesting Tanzanian’s age at a different rate to the rest of us.

It actually gets worse.

Using “Tanzania” for an example of anything, I would observe Tanzania, in 1984 was under the repressive one party government, so enrolling to vote meant nothing at all.

Life expectancy, well reaching 40 today (the current age of your 1984 18 year old), would put the average Tanzanian about 2 years short of meeting his maker. So close to death, I am sure politics and the next election is not high on the list of priorities, especially as “democratic government” in Tanzania is only around 11 years old.

The above somehow conditions your expression “Maybe I realise now why you don't comment, you are so ill-informed”

Having read what you wrote about Tanzanians, quoting statistics about the national economy of Holland seemed to have lost its informative eloquence.