On with the show. Labour, Liberal what's the difference?

Now that the leadership battle has been dealt with (or though I guess it's not going away anytime soon). I'd like to put some questions out there.
I keep hearing about the governments commitment to a budget surplus. But why is it so important? Surely the only thing that can come from this is a reduction in services and programs that would help generate real long term employment. Or at the very least stagnation of the current programs. What appears to be the problem is the lack of investment in education, health and infrastructure. Although I would concede that this has been the case whatever political party is governing at the time. But, in the rush to be seen as good fiscal managers the current government has trashed the very principles of its own party. I believe the current government could be  called Neo-liberalist (correct me if I'm wrong). What does that mean?
What appears to be happening is that the major parties are engaging in "me too" politics on all but the most contentious issues, thereby leaving little room for any serious debate on things that affect the majority of the population. It doesn't help when the current opposition is engaging in negative politics and refuse to put any of their policies out there for public scrutiny. Which leads me to my next question. Why does the opposition need to wait until an election is called before they will let the public know what their stance is on the major issues? Are the scared of what the voters will think, or are they worried that the government will steal some of their ideas?
Is it any wonder that the membership of political parties are dwindling. Does there need to be more independents in government........ where are the Democrats? We need a party to keep the bastards honest. Lately, we have needed someone to keep the bastards from choking each other, inside and outside the party!
Hmmmm, men and women behaving badly.

A rant about journalists and Politicians

Well, most of the journos that have an opinion on the leadership challenge and the Labour Party have expressed them in earnest today. Am I the only one who has had enough of these people damning the politicians whatever they do or say. I personally have had enough of the "you heard it here first" reporting by the media at large. where are the journos who prosecute a line of inquiry through good investigative journalism? looking at both sides of the story, giving the public the facts not sensationalized drivel that is only meant to boost the reader/viewer numbers.
Unless the media stops perpetuating the "tall poppy syndrome" we will lose all of our good politicians and we surely will not be able to attract into politics the sort of people we need to help run this country and to form an effective opposition. Sure Rudd was an absolute bastard by all reports, but he was the prime Minister of this country and as such deserves some respect. Also while Gillard does not have the confidence of the majority of the public, and can't get her point across well enough, she is the Prime Minister and should be allowed to govern through to the next election. An election is the proper time to elect which party should run the country. Nothing can change what happened to Rudd in 2010, its done. get over it move on and make your decision at the next election. As for the opposition, Abbott has to get over the fact HE lost the right to govern the country. He and his party had the same opportunities given to them by the independents as labour had. He chose not to take what was offered. For the sake of good effective government Mr Abbott start acting like an opposition by holding the Government to account  on it policies where they differ from your philosophy and ideology not by acting like a child that has been given out on the first ball, so takes the bat and ball and goes home. We can all feel for your loss... so close and yet so far, but really enough is enough get on with the job of being a good effective opposition.
It's important to remember that it is a political party that is elected by the people not the leader. Although I will concede that the popularity of a leader is in some way a deciding factor of which party to vote for.
Back to journos.
The overuse of emotive language in reporting surely must have had its day. Will the public ever become tired of being sucked into a story by the use of statements that sensationalise the news only to find out that the actual story is not that big or important? Surely there must come a day. My suspicion is that the public's thirst for juicy news and gossip about any high profile person or persons will fuel the media's use of misleading headlines and stories for some time to come.
Is there not a journalist out there that had the intestinal fortitude to tell it like it is. I don't want to read all of the news articles out there on a given topic, find out the contradictions then try and make an informed decision on it. I want balanced reporting, I want the facts, I want to know that if a politician puts out a statement on a given topic that it has not been swallowed whole and blurted out in the media for the sake of getting a story out before some other journo.
If you have bothered to read this far, I will tell you that not all journos are like those that I have ranted about above. But, increasingly there does seem to be a move toward getting the news out first at all costs.

So it's on. A leadership ballot to elect a new leader of the ALP. Surely this cannot be a good thing regardless of how unpopular the incumbent leader is with the general populace. Cannibalizing itself is a sure way to get rocketed into political oblivion is it not? So why would they come out and throw such vitriolic statements into the public domain? Neither combatant can come out of this without having a heap of skin off.
Am I so naive about politics to expect a party that is leading the country to find a more civil and dignified way of sorting out internal differences? Are these people so inept at debating that they must resort to debasing their opponent instead of reasoned argument?
Question for the day: Should we not expect our politicians to form reasoned argument about policy issues and be able to debate them without demeaning those that hold opposing views?

in the beginning

 The reason for starting this blog is to put out there my thoughts and questions, hopefully someone will read my blogs and either agree or correct my thinking and expand my knowledge as I want to make an informed vote at the next election.
Since the elections in 2010 I have become disenchanted with Australian politics and politicians. The recent Government debacle has done nothing to end that situation. I have traditionally voted as I always have because that's what you do, or so I thought. It has become increasingly apparent that I have been wasting my vote. What is more alarming is I really have no idea of the political philosophies and ideologies of the major parties.  What is the left and right of politics and what the hell is the centre left?