Peter Costello has done himself nor the party any favours with his constant petulant sniping at John Howard.

There have been many factors which have conspired to bring about such a poor poll rating for them and the main being a poorly planned IR reform.Other factors have been too much easy credit which have inflated house prices,cost of petrol and food,voter ignorance in distinguishing State Labor responsibilities from Federal ones and long encumbancy.

Just before our NSW State Elections a group of my daughter's friends casually said,"Well who do we vote for."Now many of these girls were university educated and had no idea of the issues or the competence of the Iemma Govt.This Govt is probably the most irresponsible,delusionally stupid in our history and nobody noticed because the economy nationally still progressed under a disciplined Federal Govt and resources boom.

If the polls do not improve soon,the Coalition will have to make some hard decisions.Many within the party are rightly absolutely furious with Costello's naked ambition but who else has a better intellect,grasp of the economy,better parliamentary performer,recognisable public persona than Costello?

The Coalition need to heal the wounds and rationally decide whether or not to stick with John or opt for Peter and perhaps capture the younger vote.

If Labor get into power,will they have the discipline to keep Govt spending,the unions and taxes in check?At both a Federal and State level their track record is very poor.If inflation sends interest rates back to their bad old days,our next Labor generated recession will make their 1991 recession look like a tea party since our undisciplined credit system has placed us all in a very precarious financial position.

I don't think that Labor has the the depth of talent or the courage to run a viable secure Australia.One articulate Kevin Rudd cannot compensate for all the flaws that spawned the Latham debacle.

If you have a mortage and rely on your job to service it,be very discerning about the party you vote for this year.Old and sneeky may well be a better option than going broke.

"If you have a mortage and rely on your job to service it,be very discerning about the party you vote for this year.Old and sneeky may well be a better option than going broke."

Umm, isn't Old and Sneaky why people are going broke? Interest rates may be low, but mortgage payments have increased at a much faster rate than wages have, leading to whats known as "mortgage pressure" better known as "where the hell has all the money gone!"

I don't know whether Rudd and co would do any better, but keep this in mind, it was a Labor Prime Minister who put in place the foundations that Howard and Co have been tinkering with over the last 11 years.

shall we let howard continue to mine the country, file down civil liberties, incite the foreigners, and re-colonize the indigenes? or should we let kevvie have a go, comfortable with the knowledge that he is as one with his mentor. poor peter costello, imagining he was going to carry on the howard tradition..

'citizenship' in oz: one button to push, in three years: tweedledum, or tweedledee? the stress would be unbearable, except either is like the other. they call it democracy. at least it doesn't overstretch the educational establishment by asking that oz kids know anything. which presumably is why johnny doesn't waste much money on poor kids in public schools.

Voting in our elections is like having to choose which foot to shoot yourself in!

I am not impressed with either of the major parties as far as policies or personnel. They all exhibit more ambition than talent. They all love the GST now it is in place, as an extra tax effectively. So I will never trust the Democrats again either, after they became Howard's Whores on that issue.

However the thing that concerns me most is the amount of influence that is accorded the 'God Botherers' by both the major parties. With the Liberals it is The Exclusive Brethren and Hillsong, and with Labor, the Pope. The thought that both parties accept group delusion as an alternative to reason as a basis for making decisions that affect all of us, is just plain alarming.

The fact that most people do not want religious answers to governmental issues is being ignored,to placate the strident lobbying of religious fundamentalists, in the hope of winning 'disciplined' blocks of votes as decreed by Fundie leaders.

Time for all the parties to reconcile with the quiet and oh so shabbily ignored middle ground voters, who only want a fair go, and are sick of the squeaky wheels getting all the grease.

Down with 'spin' and undue influence.

The howard government has made it almost impossible for low income earners to make ends meet. No, its not just from "consumerism", many of us have been trying to get by with a modest home, dodgy car, vegie patch etc. Rising fuel costs (no we have no public transport) medical costs rates and taxes are hurting us badly. In fact we are now forced to sell our home and move to back of beyond. So if anyone wants to buy a house on the river Murray 1 hour from adelaide for $239,000 check it out on riverestatesfirstnational.com.au

Labour doesn't have the depth of talent to run the country?
How many of the current ministers had any experience in government when they were elected?

I think it was two, including Howard himself.

Using that sort of logic means you would never be able to change any government.

People like Kendra will find that many of these taxes and charges are State based.The NSW Govt has just increased 700 state taxes and charges.Electricity for business is now doubled.They will drive more business from this State,keeping wages low and we will begin see unemployment rise here.Iemma and his bunch of incompetents just haven't a clue.Under the influence of the PS Unions,they have flatly refused to reign in their excesses.Morris on the media is like a deer caught in the spotlight,frozen with fear and not a clue in which direction to flee.

Why when people are complaining most bitterly about things being so wrong why don't they sheet home the blame where most belongs.. their state governments.
Poor Mr Howard cops a lot of abuse from the complainents who can not or will not realise that most of the trouble comes from their own dysfunctional state ALP.
John Howard hs been an excellent Prime Minister, I hope he goes on much longer being just that.

When is a "Coalition" not a coalition? There's the rub, my friends.
Labor (labour by any other name) is the biggest "coalition" of all. Supported by power hungry unionists and self flagellating do-gooders whose policies are set to achieve majority vote at election time, but whose real purpose is only to bring themselves the huge riches that political power brings. What is the size of their individual or collective "Carbon footprints"? They squeel about poverty and invoke everyone to "Save the Planet" - but where is their personal contribution?
It is time there was more honesty in Politics and less "Motherhood".
As for the "Coalition", my suggestion is that they should act like one and show some real leadership in social issues instead of trying to out-do the opposition in the popularity stakes..