With the Queensland Election all over bar the shouting (sic), it is interesting to note that Robbie Katter of the Mad Hatter`s Party is pushing Bob`s policy (by manipulating the Labor minority government with it`s vital vote) of making it mandatory for all petrol to contain 10% Ethanol.

This is purely a vote-grabbing opportunity for the Mad Hatter, to ensure continuing support from his mates, the Canefarmers of North Queensland.

This is a never-ending scam against the drivers of Queensland. First it was the abolition of Leaded petrol, and the implementation of Unleaded petrol, causing distress to a minority of drivers whose vehicles were not designed to run on Unleaded fuels, then it was the plan to abolish all fuel that did not contain 10% Ethanol. That plan failed miserably due to the fact that so many drivers refused to use fuel containing Ethanol, and again many vehicles were not designed to run with that Ethanol content.

Now we see the plan by the Mad Hatter to force all drivers to accept a mandatory 10% Ethanol, which will again cause major issues with vehicles not designed to run on a 10% Ethanol content!

We are currently being ripped off by the Fuel Wholesalers, who for no conceivable reason have increased the price of fuel at the bowser by 20c per litre, meanwhile the Government turns a blind eye (Revenue), and the spot oil price remains at an all time low.

It appears that the motorists of this country are simply cash-cows for the greedy fuel barons and the greedy Government!

What we need is a whole new election because even if labor do form government by just one seat, nothing will get though and they will be forever watching over their shoulder for the elusive defector, arla K Rudd/ Gillard.

rehctub, I disagree wholeheartedly. When Mike Rann became premier of SA he relied on the support of independents. And while he was relying on the support of a few independents and a National, he became one of the best Premiers we've ever had.

Then after Labor gained a majority at the next election, Mike Rann became one of the worst Premiers we've ever had.

It also worked pretty well at Federal level. The constant media claims that the Gillard government was the worst ever were completely baseless.

The Galah'd + Greens government should be credited its due as the worst federal government bar none.

Julia Galah'd would without doubt also be the most divisive PM in history, being thoroughly rejected and tipped out of office for her gender and class wars (and total stuff-ups).

We are told that, "John Scales, of JWS research, in May 2011 polled 2141 people in the 10 most marginal Labor seats and the 10 most marginal Coalition seats.

Asked "which, of the past five, had been the best government for Australia ?", responses were as follows:

50 per cent nominated the Howard government (1996-2007)
13 per cent for the Keating government (1991-1996)
13 per cent for the Hawke government (1983-1991)
12 per cent for the Rudd government (2007-2010)
4 per cent nominated the Gillard government (2010-2013)
8 per cent responded as "unsure"
In all, 50 per cent of all respondents nominated a Liberal Party government, with 42 per cent nominating the Labor Party. At the time of the survey, the federal government was led by the Labor Party."
[Wikipedia]

Just thinking, if there was an award for the most duplicitous and treacherous deputy, Julia would win that hands down too.

The most treacherous (and lunar) political partner would go to Julia's sidekicks, the Greens, and she would confer that award herself.

Anyone who thinks Annastacia Palaszczuk has any potential to be a great Premier needs their head read. She is only there by default and way out of her depth. Watch the knives come out as soon as Labor is settled into Government.

God help us if the crazy Katter if allowed to pull the strings.

Is there even one inspiring politician in the whole country? I don't think so. The cowardly LNP missed its chance to dump Abbott; nothing is going to change except the Government come next Federal election and then we can all rejoice as Labor runs us deeper into national debt.

I guess that's what we get after generations of welfare handouts and an advanced Nanny State. The general populace thinks they deserve a free ride and will toss everyone out of the way who dares suggest its time for everyone to start carrying their weight.

Yep, god help us now. They are both prepared to indulge in lousy policy, shades of Gillard, to buy governmental leather.

The LNP have done the same deal with Katter, to mandate 10% ethanol in our petrol.

As a bloke with old cars, that could cost me alone $500 in modifications to be able to run the car.

I'm wondering about one I'm a bit sick of. Some of the rubber bits slowly degrade with ethanol in the fuel.

If I just run it, it will eventually catch fire. It would probably be worth while to let it, then sew the pants off the Katter party for causing it.

Regardless, expect to see a few roadside fires if this goes ahead.

There must be stronger words than simply disgusted.

onthebeach, the media of the time were very biased against the Gillard government, and with the benefit of hindsight it's likely some would have revised their opinions upwards. And not being the best doesn't necessarily make it the worst — although if the same survey were done today, I reckon most people would rate Tony Abbott as the worst PM, and only about 1% would consider him to be the best.

Having said that, "the worst PM bar none" is not a call I'd make on Abbott. I hear some of the pre-Whitlam ones were pretty bad...

I am amazed at the response to my post,which I thought was about the impending mandating all petroleum fuels to contain 10% Ethanol!

So far Hasbeen is the only respondent to make comment about this issue, the rest of you have had a great big moan about the general state of politics.

If you want to question why politics seem to be relatively unchanging, the answer is simple,.....it has always been this way!

You can all whinge and moan about our political system, which remains a two Party affair, but unfortunately things will remain the same as long as we have compulsory voting, preferential voting and are tied to the Westminster system of Governance.

We have to attack the issues that are affecting us directly, which is why I posted the compulsory Ethanol issue. Again I say that this is purely a move to curry favour from the Canefarmers for the Mad Hatter, at the expense of many drivers across the country, who are sick of being ripped-off one way or another at the bowser.

The only thing wrong with the ethanol is it should be the same as overseas and be 20%.

Ethanol is 10% here but you don’t have to buy it, everything else is still there plus an extra pump, at 4 cents cheaper. I don’t know what guarantees you get of not getting ethanol through the other pumps

Thank you 579 for demonstrating the stupidity of the Greenie.

The production & use of ethanol in auto fuel;

1/ Produces more CO2 emissions per mile than "proper" petrol.

2/ Costs considerably more than petrol, & is only cheaper when subsidised by the taxpayer.

3/ Is damaging to many cars, & equipment such as mowers.

4/ Is using a food product to power cars, for no good reason.

I suppose our greenies could be more stupid, & they are trying, but it will take years of indoctrination to achieve that higher level of stupidity.

Aiden, "the media of the time were very biased against the Gillard government"

Maybe you were elsewhere at the time, but the media certainly gave the first women PM plenty of encouragement. -Particularly through the many leftist and avowed feminist journalists and columnists who made every possible excuse for her. What about the ABC? Any criticism no matter how deserved was construed as a 'backlash'.

No, Gillard had more rope than any politician before, although she was continually whiteanted by the her sidekicks the feckless Greens. She paid out on the Greens later as 'just a protest party'. So she was finally right in something.