Thanks for all your contributions thus far.

Personally,
I've tried to follow policies, not parties.

I grew up in a Liberal
voting family and I always used to vote for the Libs.
However after hubbie's and mine 10 year stint -
of living and working
in the US - when we returned to this country my (and his)
voting patterns changed and instead of blindly following in our
family's footsteps - We became more selective, and went after
policies instead.

I feel strongly that policies do matter, so does a party's
record and what they have achieved. As I grow
older I tend to pay more attention not to any party allegiance
but to the policies.

I think that at the next election it's not going to be an
easy choice. To me the two major parties seem very similar.
I live in a Liberal safe-seat electorate. Our federal rep.
has been in power for decades. To this day I don't know
what he actually has done. He's not on the front-bench in
Cabinet in Canberra. It would be more productive for all of
the electorate if the man was replaced with some-one with
more energy and passion.
It seems to me that all he does is have a great job - (plus
its perks) - and all he has to do is what he's told.
Not very exciting for us voters - but great for him. He's
set comfortably for life

cont'd ...

Prof. Sally Young, professor of Political Science at
Melbourne University and a regular "The Age" columnist
wrote this interesting article on - why do people vote
the way they do? She tells us that - "Weaker
voter attachment to the major parties can make events
beyond their control more significant and elections
less predictable."

The link is worth a read:

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/modern-voting-patterns-test-major-parties-nerves-20141202-11y9f7.html

Foxy I am very much aware of the point made in your last post, and in all honesty think both my party and the two making up this government are not aware or just do not care.
We only need look at America, say from the rise of the tea party, till now, to see it is the case there too,I LIVE for my party, and the future one I hope it will become, but have sat at many events quietly observing as a conga line of upwardly mobile bottom licker,s crowd the leadership wife/Husband on arm, my task is not one I need approval for, being an unpaid foot soldier, but are voters wrong? hard to say yes solid immovable rocks in the heads on both sides rarely even consider change, reform, explanations, they just see them selves at the top, 6 weeks before an election the white shirts sleeves rolled up, beer at the bar with the boys and kissing baby's, gets a run,one day a leader will confront the growing they are all the same blindness, and that leader is not yet in sight

Dear Belly,

I remember the days when my dad used to talk politics
over dinner. Those were different times. Those
were the times when Party leadership was through
seniority, and patience was considered a virtue. I read
that when Harold Holt became Prime Minister in 1966 -
he proudly told his wife:

"I climbed over no one's dead body to get here."

In modern times leaders whose tenure began after 1970
and finished by 2016, almost half were victims of party
coups. That is they were displaced by their own party.
The increasing frequency of leadership coups has made things
very disruptive. The coups are often fraught by uncertainty
and crisis and sometimes these - the most personal of
political conflicts produce enduring legacies of bitterness
and internal division.

We now seem to be living in a time of disposable political leaders.
Surely we need to change things not only for the good of
the country, but for the good of us all. Voters will not vote
for disunified parties - with internal conflicts.

The way i experienced the whole show is whenever Labor got in I had to make scarfices & when the Coalition got in I didn't do much better but it was a reprieve from the stress of worrying about employment which always (in my case) was way more stable under the Conservatives.
Labor exploited the Public Service as its major vertebrae in its back & let it grow uncontrolled into the bureaucratic control mechanism it is now. The workers were given a couple of Dollars extra here & there under huge fanfare but generally the only winners are the public servants.
Now, the Turnbull outfit is following in Labors track.
The best way now would be an ALP/LNP Coalition with One Nation breathing down their red necks.
Whichever party addresses tax reform & welfare reform will get my insignificant vote from now on if I can see a hint of that in pre-election gobbledeegook.

I can only speak on my own behalf.

And, it is not going to be an easy decision at the next
election - that's for sure. Nothing is as simple as it used
to be in dad's time. I remember those nostalgic times.
Things seemed far more stable - then. And we could take quite a
lot for granted, and in many cases did. But perhaps I'm not
remembering things correctly.

I must be feeling older today.

I think -I need to get my husband to take me out
for a change of scene. Maybe go for a walk in the Botanic
Gardens - have lunch by the lake, feed the ducks, or go
to a museum or art gallery - or something.

All this political stuff is getting to me.