Dear Chris,

I agree we do have choices.

Here's a link that might be of interest:

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4694050.html

It deals with the rise of the minor parties -
and well worth a read.

chris..,,..<<..Rubbish, there are greens, and other minor parties. They mostly hold the balance of power in the Senate, so have an important impact.>>

BUT IF IT CAME RIGHT DOWN..To it
they would side with each other..
[IF IT EVER BECAME 1/3 rd liB/nat
1/3 RD lab..1/3 rd green]..

sure some currently do deals
but the main PARTIES ARE FILIBUSTER PROOF [REGARDING ANY REAL CHANGE

Paul1405,
I agree with you about the drift to the right, but it actually seems to be global.
New Labour in the UK went to the middle and so did the Democrats in the US. The US result was that the Republicans had to go even further to the right.

Howard moved to the far right to capture those who drifted toward One Nation Beazley moved with him.

Even more than Hawke/Keating, Beazley abandoned many ALP principles and ended up as a wanna-be Howard clone - albeit with a lot more social conscience - but he lost his traditional ground.

Most posters on this site automatically deride anybody who questions the LNP as "left" but that's because there is absolutely nobody to the right of the LNP anymore. All the crackpot right-wing extremists have found a new home. You can see many of them on this site.

Even middle-ground moderates are now rabid lefties and the only thing in the world that seems to matter is debt levels.

Thanks foxy.

It will be interesting to see how events turn out during the next 3-4 years in terms of the influence of the minor parties/members in the Senate.

its nice to know we all live in a free country.
We are all free to do as we are told.

Dear Chris,

It will be interesting to see what develops in
politics in the next couple of years.

Political commentators have pointed out that quality
debate about big issues is very poor. Peter Costello
tells us, that "These days politics is more about
gaining and holding office than using office to improve
things for the better."

And former attorney-general and foreign minister -
Gareth Evans says, "The quality of policy debate in
the last election campaign was as desolate as it gets,
including, it has been acknowledged on the Labor side:
all Hill and no light."

No wonder the public are fed up. They are being fed
rehearsed lines, and they know it.
It also appears that it's not so much a policy debate
any more - but about personal attributes, and
personalities. Something has to give.