A choice between the Devil and the deep red sea...

With 2 weeks to go in this farce of an election I have reached a point of utter dejection - there's almost nothing that I can see anyone doing about the fact that I just can't in good conscience cast a vote confidently for anyone at all.  The only people making the slightest sense is the Australian sex party, which as fun as it might sound is obviously no basis for serious government.

I completely trust the Liberal party under Tony abbot to competently and cost effectively implement policies that deeply shame me and make me question my very decision to live in Australia - just like the seven years of Howard Government I lived through before.  At the same time, I trust Labor to have principles I wholeheartedly agree with, but to develop policies that are half-cut compromises to satisfy various factional vested interest and then completely fail to competently implement them.  In terms of leaders, it's a choice between Mad Monk Abbott and Julia Gillard's 'government by Kath and Kim' - with the mercurial Ruddbot lurking spookily in the shadows and the delusional Mark Latham popping up randomly like some Pythonesque jack-in-the-box. 

(Come back Malcolm Turnbull and Kim Beazley – all is forgiven!)

And the greens? While I would like to donate my very first Australian vote to the Greens, I cannot forgive them for conspiring with the Coalition to kill the ETS (in a remarkable case of ‘letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.’ ).  I can't remember if they could or couldn't provide the numbers to get that through - but its the principle of the thing.  Besides, I do find that to a man and woman, their self-righteousness is stomach churning.

Its a depressing and exasperating proposition which leaves me mulling a really bizarre set of options since voting in this country is mandatory

- the positive: vote green purely to keep the Liberals out while making sure Labor gets a bloody nose
- the creative: turn up to vote but defile the ballot paper. The main challenge here is to decide what to defile it with.  All suggestions welcome in the comments box below
- the negative: not turn up and register a protest by paying the $100 fine
- the comical: vote for the Australian sex party afteral; (somewhat dependent on whether they sell out to share preferences with the puritanical 'family first' party)
- the insane: lobby the Queen to revoke Federation so we can re-establish British rule

The last option of course is an echo of this comical letter from the Queen circulated after the debacle of the 2000 US election. 
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5 responses
Would your prefer sub-par execution of good policies or swift and efficient implementation of ones you don't?

Also, it's all the one bureaucracy with a different cabinet steering.

— Andrew
Both good points, yes. While sub-par execution is one thing; BER, pink bats, resources tax and ETS were somewhat more than just sub-par...they were confidence-sapping disasters. And while the yes Minister system is a reality, cabinet leadership does still define the character of a govt. (or should do).

Ultimately it's an ugly dilemma: I could have called my post "Hobson's Choice"!

— Gareth Llewellyn
Look really, don't over-analyse it. The idea of Abbott is unthinkable... Even for the right of his own party he was considered an unthinkable choice for pm. He was play-penned to the fringes as an eccentric not to be taken seriously years ago.

Have to agree on pink batts but the BER attacks are a total beat-up. Really, the waste was tiny compared to the size of the project.

As for the ETS - Abbott doesn't even believe in climate change. He would have done nothing. Resources tax? Again, Abbott wouldn't have contemplated that (I'm assuming you'd be in favour of it).

And you can be sure he will change the IR laws back to have reworked elements of workchoices revived. There's no point listening to any promises or discussion on that; that sort ir policy is embedded in the party ideology.

Not sure about your statement on the bureaucracy but I guess it's right to some extent. Have a lot of fam/friends in PS and really not much changes for them in caretaker mode.

— Andrew
I think that's a demonstration at how effective Abbott has been as an opposition leader - before he came in Labor seemed fairly competent. 8 months later they seem a shambles. (spectacular Hari kiri aside.)

BER waste doesn't seem as bad as he made out, you are right, but the question is whether thats because of the management - or just luck. The probity just doesn't seem to have been there. Is that the PS of Gillard's fault? I would argue Gillard.

But you are totally right on ETS and RSPT - he would do neither and I think we should do both, now. So thanks for focusing my mind in a way this stoopid election has not! Option 1 it is (and if Gillard pulls her finger out in the next fortnight, there's a vote here for her if she wants it!)

But absolutely, Abbott is barking mad and needs stopping!:)

— Gareth Llewellyn
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