Lessons from the fallout
The recriminations from the WA election fallout represents some of the greatest examples of political pifflesnork ever concocted. The sagging Liberals see the Nationals floundering, and instead of trying to lecture Barnaby Joyce, they courted Pauline Hanson, thus latching onto an automatic multiple seat winner; and popular too. Just what is needed to fill the stale vacuum of missing talent in the ranks. At the outset, it looked so cosy and easy to just put a tick in a box, simple and foolproof, and giving each other both a leg up at the same time. I now retract the word foolproof. The whole plot did a spectacular double backfire.
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The ALP could not have been luckier. They only had to sit and wait for the dust to clear and humbly emerge as winners, simply bystanders to the implosion. When One Nation was not wanted by the Liberals, they were unsophisticated, but when ONP increased their electoral power and clout, suddenly sophistication appeared. Now, just as suddenly, unsophistication has reappeared. There is only one way to get it back; popularity in polls. Mr Turnbull said Federal issues do not influence State ones. Dictionary: Federal - pertaining to a league or treaty founded on mutual agreement, esp. between states. All state workers have their awards determined by a federal body. See some connection or not? Mal needs to talk to some of the lowest low paid state workers; voters who now have lower pay and ask if they are vindictive enough to punish his cohorts as indirect revenge. Some may even be satisfied by the election result. Of course, if the Liberals had won, it would be an endorsement of federal policies.
Colin Holmes, Ballarat
Why is Ballarat left behind
Our regional cousins in Geelong and Bendigo both have railway station precincts with integrated bus interchanges; we in Ballarat are alone in not having one.
Instead of waiting to commit funding in the State Budget for our bus interchange, Labor should be announcing funding right now.
I attended the Save our Station meeting on Saturday morning to listen to the concerns of residents. It's a pity our three local Labor MPs Jaala Pulford, Geoff Howard and Sharon Knight refused to attend. They would have heard the genuine and well-founded concerns of residents, and also an offer from the group to work with Government to find a solution to the mess that is our railway station redevelopment.
Jacinta Allan is the Minister for Public Transport. If she can't guarantee funding to fix this debacle then she's just highlighting how ineffective she is as a Minister.
Joshua Morris, Member for Western Victoria
Waiting for a real leader
The Government maintain Australians could reduce welfare dependency by providing independent retirement incomes from investments such as superannuation, negative geared property, stock market etc.These policies carry risk, some considerable to the inexperienced, influenced by political hyperbole "do as we say, not as we do". Governments, both State and Federal have selected their "quick fix" wholesaling profitable assets (investments) that would have sheltered Australians, such as energy producing assets and many more. We now find ourselves with overpriced energy; a precarious energy future, devoid of authentic policy beyond 2017. Opportunistic capitalist market-based corporations and syndicates acquired at bargain priced, monopolistic type assets, capable of dictating government policy. Can any political party claim to include "statesmen" with proficiency in policy and leadership parallel to those of last century? People with vision and the tenacity to implement significant policy beyond the next election period or without expecting average workers to pay for all the mistakes.
Wally Reynolds, Perth
