Let us for a time pause and review how we elect governments, and how party's are formed in Australia.
Even my party has trouble getting interested people to branch meetings.
The few self interested who control some Branch's are too much to handle even for me.
Why if we so desperately need it are new party's not forming? not attracting voters?
Howard has told more lies than any leader in my life.
Rudd is no saint, but he like Howard was pre workchoices, Iraq, Tampa ext is a politician.
Of the choices we have can you promise other than danger for us all from all the wasted votes in the one issue party's?
Gentlemen and women you can not plant spuds and expect to harvest water melons.
This election we have few choices no bright shining candidate for another path is standing.
Yes even I have my concerns, in no way do I want to hide that but even if unions , the good ones , do not get every thing we want from Rudd we know a better Australia not build on devision is coming.
In truth not until Bill Shorten becomes Prime Minister will I be at ease.
We only have to look here and see closely the hand full of new party's talked of here and any understanding of politics must show us dreams often are not shared by the only people who matter, voters.

Further to my last post….

And neither of them deserves anyone’s vote for as long as they uphold the totally disgraceful compulsory preferential voting system, which basically steels votes from anyone who wishes to not vote for either of the dinosaur parties and obligates them to effectively vote for one of them – whichever they put second last on their ballot paper.

This is a hell of thing when you think about it. Just antidemocratic to the core!

Sorry David you’ve lost me. I’m feeling a little bit tweedledumbish. Are you writing with tongue in cheek or not? I can’t figure it out.

Um...... STEALS votes!

no, lud, you give it.

if we all wrote democracy on our ballots, we'd get it. takes patience. takes enough brains to see the futility of backing these vermin.

but they don't steal, or steel, they just lie and lie and lie. you mugs swallow and swallow.

direct election of ministers would get us better planners and administrators instead of musical-chair hoppers. citizen initiative would get us long term policies about resource use and population. it would keep us out of wars that are clearly criminal.

i'm damned if i can see how anyone would defend this current state structure.

Direct election is no garauntee of quality, just look at what happens in the states, where judges and district attorneys are elected instead of appointed.