I watched Q and A last night on the ABC,
and I'm glad I did. Things again were
put into perspective for me.

Graham Richardson explained when asked
what he thought of the Debate - that with
the rules that the TV Station applies - its
virtually impossible to have a Debate of any
substance. They aren't allowed to interrupt
each other - and so it becomes a very polite,
boring "talk."

The point that Richo raised was - vote for the
Party that you think will be able to run the
country for the benefit of the people.
And that for me at least - that put things
into its right perspective. It's a no-brainer
really. One will bring back WorkChoices, (or an
equivalent), and save, save, save, which means
huge cuts in social services like health, hospitals,
education, pensions, jobs, et cetera. A step back
to the Howard years.

With the other, we at least have a chance of not losing
what we currently have - so we won't be any the worse
off. And hopefully, we'll be better off . Penny Wong
was excellent. And Malcolm Turnbull proved what a
loss the Liberal Party has in getting rid of him as
their Leader. The Greens, have a lot of explaining to do.
Their spokewoman was extremely aggressive but no substance.

Not a real choice, it would seem.

Thinker 2

You are certainly not alone. Just observe how much impact that pathetic 'debate' has had on peoples views on the 'policies' both put forward.

Most people are clearly not 'engaged' at all.

Ludwig is fired up as much on local issues, Dear Tony Moody, as anything else, is that a fair comment Ludwig, I was thinking of an earlier post of yours there?

Don't be fooled by Gillard's use of the as yet empty phrase 'sustainable'. She is certainly not talking about redesigning the economy at all, just trimming some of the excesses.

Living in a safe seat with a member whose politics I despise is not conducive to 'taking an interest', but I have also given up on reading any newspapers, which was a daily ritual, as the content therein has become 'content free' over the last few years.

I agree with Foxy that Turnbull should be back leading the Libs, preferably having dropped their drones from the Nats into the village duckpond they normally quack around, but I disagree with you Foxy on Milne.

I thought she gave a fairly spirited performance, and sounded somewhat more animated than I've ever seen her.

Wong did sound considerably better than when she was being interviewed by O'Brien and Jones during the lead up to Copenhagen, when her ability to communicate the message the government needed support for was never to be seen.

We have yet to 'move forward' from the Howard years though, in my view, and as for the rules of the debate, the parties do not have to participate on those terms.

But if the 'Fran' experiences, or Lateline ones are anything to go by, we need to prevent politicians from bullying their opponents in these two-bob debates.

I am sick of hearing Pyne and Bowen on Fran, with their petulant attacks on each other, and I've long given up bothering with the Lateline 'pollies debates' at the end of the week.

<< Just observe how much impact that pathetic 'debate' has had on peoples views on the 'policies' both put forward. >>

Blue Cross, I thought the debate wasn’t too bad. For me, Abbott was the clear winner because on two or three occasions, Gillard just didn’t address the questions put to her, but skirted around them in classic Rudd style.

<< Ludwig is fired up as much on local issues, Dear Tony Moody, as anything else, is that a fair comment… >>

I was most annoyed that my local Labor candidate is Tony Mooney, ex long-time mayor of Townsville, for whom I have no regard, which would make it extremely difficult to vote for Gillard. However, that aggravation seems to have passed, as Gillard is going backwards from a promising start.

I’m not hugely interested in local issues in relation to the federal election. The big-picture issues are my area of interest, particularly sustainability and population growth.

<< Don't be fooled by Gillard's use of the as yet empty phrase 'sustainable'. She is certainly not talking about redesigning the economy at all, just trimming some of the excesses. >>

Yes. Unfortunately I’ve got to agree.

But hey……….

[see next post]

It is really unfortunate that the good thinking people of OLO are finding this election campaign tedious and dull.

Hey, something pretty amazing is happening here, which has never happened before…

Both major parties are thinking about a sustainable society and questioning the fundamental doctrine of continuous rapid population growth.

This is of enormous importance. The election campaigns should resultantly be generating much more interest – much more than for past elections, by far!

It is imperative that the populace get behind the push for much lower population growth and sustainability.

Apathy in this new political climate is very unfortunate indeed, especially from astute and concerned people, of which many on OLO are.

Ludwig, I think you are right in saying that there are some really big issues being brought forward in this election like sustainability and growth. The real problem for the parties would seem to be two fold.
firstly they never actually say anything that is firm and clearly defined. Secondly, no one seems to be listening anymore.
I too am so bored with this election. The Tony and Julia show could cure insomnia. No vision, no leadership the only announcement that caught my attention was in disgust as Julia put another decision off to a labor gravy train sorry peoples forum.
Someone inspire me please or i will have to vote green to get a good argument going.

I am at the stage where I've just stopped listening...of course, the odd spouting gets through the filter...what was that about $2,000 to replace your old clunker with a new car? They'll be offering a free set of steak knives next.

Having said that, Julia is a consummate professional with the blah, blah, blah of politics. Tony...well, he hasn't really got it, if you know what I mean. He's not really leadership material, methinks. I fully expect that if Labor wins (a strong probability) that the Liberal Party will take up where it left off and reinstall Malcolm Turnbull - hopefully they can then set about giving us a decent opposition and get their act together solidly for the following election.