Hasbeen,

Locally, I don't expect it to go to preferences, around New England it's pretty sure National Party territory and Barnaby Joyce, despite being currently on the nose, is seen as being an asset to the electorate.

There is no point in voting for independents or minor parties unless you get some perverse satisfaction out of doing so. Take the recent SA election. Three minors put themselves up, and all three bombed out big time. Greens 6%; Australian Conservatives 3.5%; SA Best 13.7%. I admit to putting the AC candidate first because the new Premier is an idiot, and the party put up an unknown Indian woman against the sitting member who was the Attorney General and a good local member who retained the seat for Labor. Most people will continue to vote for one of the two major parties, as they have always done. Protest votes are a waste of time. Australian voters are political naifs who will continue voting as they have always done.

As for who will be the next PM, how the hell would anyone know that.

“........ the Greens have hit a ceiling, their policies, attitudes and hyperbolic rhetoric alienating the vast majority of Australians and, apparently, quite a few of their erstwhile supporters”. (Christopher Carr, 'Quadrant Online’ after the SA election).

The pathetic showing by the Greens in SA, and the result in Batman seem to bear out Carr's opinion. The same could be said for One Nation, whose members seem to think that they would all make better leaders than Hanson, stabbing her in the back at every opportunity. Xenophon is finished; a one trick pony who has worn out his welcome with his childish stunts and with no policies. And, although I support the idea of the Australian Conservatives, they will be scratching to last until the Federal election if 3.5% is all they could manage in Bernadi's home state. Our choice in a clearly between Liberal or Labor, God help us.

It appears that I will be voting for a minor party, most likely PHON, as Greens are out and after the last debacle with Rudd/Gillard, Labor will never get my vote ever. The current Liberal leader should never have been made leader so hes out also. He is further left than Labor and a dill and a republican.

If I were a betting man I would back Shorten, much to my dismay. I do not think much of peoples intellegence.

Which of the two current idiots will be prime minister is irrelevant; which party will be elected is the only thing of importance. The PM is only one person, and he cannot just do as he wishes. It's the the party that counts, and there are only two parties in Australia capable of forming a government.

It is believed that only about 5% of all voters actually change governments, and they are not the people who vote for independents or minor parties. All the minor parties who do get elected can do is run interference for a very small minority of voters. Most people do not like minor parties (that's why the parties are 'minor') or independents. Count up how many of them are in the lower house, and try to make a list of the things that they achieved which are beneficial to Australia and majority Australians.

Independents and minor parties in the Senate are the reason governments can't enact the legislation they were mandated to enact. The idea of the Senate as the 'states house' is a joke - major parties stick with the party line - so we need whatever government that gets elected to have control of it until there is enough support to get rid of it. The Greens, the Xenephons and single interest ratbags in the Senate are an insult to voters who take the governing of Australia seriously.

If you are really pissed off with the Coalition and Labor, as many, many of us are, voting for a minor party or an independent will not keep one or the other out of office. If one party cannot form a majority government, they will be relying on one of more of these weirdos to get legislation through, and the price demanded by the weirdos might just be too high for middle of the road Australians. Instead, make your views known to the individual politician who will be looking for your vote BEFORE THE ELECTIONS.

Voters need a new agenda and a sorely-needed
sense of direction. The Government has not won
a Newspoll since it scraped home with a one seat
majority and currently its base is splintering.
The Government is not doing as well at the polls
as any of us would like and the next election is
due in 2019. The electorate is desperate to see
strong leadership from the man who's always shown
promise but he's never really delivered. It's time
for that to change.

If Mr Turnbull wins the next election - I'm not sure
what would happen next. I don't think that the Liberal
Party would want to replace another PM. But who knows?
Scott Morrison could grab the job. Peter Dutton may be
an outside chance, although he seems to be poorly equipped
to communicate beyond his base. He's not one of the world's
great thinkers. Then of course Anthony Albanese could
challenge Bill Shorten for the leadership. Shorten is not
well liked. What a conundrum is our political scenario.
Making predictions at any time is a risky business, but
especially now. Let's also not forget about the breakaway
movement by Cory Bernardi - is it gathering more membership?
And there's also One Nation, and The Greens - will they
influence anything?

Watch this space.