Pericles posted while I was typing, I agree with Pericles, a pox on both their houses.

Pericles,

True...and I've been quite vocal on the forum on that subject. Our political systems appears to be nothing more that a device through which our elected representatives operate their smoke and mirrors.

However, even with this in mind, Tony Abbott appears to be a particularly vacuous example of a politician with vision - and he's the leader of the opposition!

I can't see any possibility of our system gaining any real honour soon. The sort of revolutionary shifts pushed by the public at large usually only take place when circumstances threaten basic well-being and survival, such as we've seen in the Middle-East.
Until then, apathy rules supreme.

I'm constantly amazed at this total devotion to authority shown by our 'elite' commentariate.

Oh, Treasury forecast a 0.7% CPI jump and this now becomes a 'fact' that no one, including Abbott, is allowed to doubt. No need to see how the forecast was done...just genuflect to the experts. After all who ever heard of Treasury forecasts going astray?

However, if you actually check the assumptions behind that forecast you might begin to doubt the numbers and see that the assumptions are based on guesses that are very optimistic as to what'll happen in the rest of the world over the decade. One might even be so uncharitable as to think that the assumptions were designed to achieve the lowest CPI effect possible. But they are from the experts so they are, by default, true, ok.

And clearly Abbott should just accept the science. But which science?
The one that told us the snow fields were doomed? (best season in 20 years!). The one that told us we needed desal plants because of changed rain patterns? (wettest July in 3 generations!). The one that told us we were all doomed by accelerating sea levels rises? (rises decelerating!). And never mention the cooling in past decade.

Obviously Abbott should just believe whatever the ABC commentariate tells its followers to believe. Just believe the approved experts.

Both parties, hence their leaders, want to be all things to all people in Australia, except our Aboriginal citizens. A generation ago we had a clearer understanding of the core values of each party and other than voting on an individual policy that may interest us personally we voted for the ones who best represented our left or right emotive ideals.

It is evident by the deflection from the Labor heartland that the pleb does not see their party as a partisan to their socialistic ideals any more. They see the TOTALITARIAN policies of the Greens as alien to the FREEDOM of the mass’s will to choose their own destiny.

And the Libs have Turnbull, who akin to some turncoat French noble swine embraces the populist revolution to further his own ends, a team player as long as he is captain. Then we have Abbott’s efforts of keep up with the populists as exampled by the Parental Leave scheme that had both the BCA and the Australian Industry Group at his throat with a $3 BILLION first year cost.

But in saying all of that there is one of the above that is the lesser of two evils by light-years, and they aint running the show now.

I watch the ABC occasionally on sunday morning with Barry Cassidy & his side kick Annabel. If you lot think this Annabel makes sense then you're beyond help. She is so academic that just a single, accidental thought of reality would knock her out.

sonofgloin – along with Lexi, you have also offered some interesting insights into the state of the "big two" political parties and their apparent departure from underlying key principles that everyone used to understand.

But it is a changing world and political parties probably need to adapt, so we shouldn't be too hard on them. For example, it is hard to expect any contemporary political party mustering support by promoting the mindless devotion to the British Empire that we saw 50+ years ago.

Maybe these parties are acting like teenagers because there is a direct analogy there – emerging consciousness of mental ability and self combined with hormones make this a difficult period for all – hopefully we can get through this phase quickly.

I have just re-read George Orwell's "1984" – apart from being a beautifully crafted tale, there are some interesting insights there. It would be easy to dismiss this story as being out-of-date but I believe there are still some lessons there for us today.