Written by Kaye

On Saturday all concerned Australians will visit the polls to vote for the party of their choice to lead this country for the next three years.

Aren’t we lucky to live in a democracy and be able to register our preference for the next government? It makes me sad to think that not everyone appreciates this right; a right that people in other countries are literally dying for. So my first suggestion is that you take a moment before you vote and remember to be grateful for something many others are denied.

We’ve heard a lot during this election campaign about Phony Tony and the “real” Julia. But this is a sad distraction from what most of us really want to know – who is the real team on offer from the major parties. Getting stuck on a personal like or dislike of Tony, Julia or Bob is really missing the point. Who will the next treasurer be? Who will lead the charge on climate change? What about foreign affairs? And health? All issues which matter – who is likely to be the minister of which portfolio and what are there credentials?

And this is one of the reasons I feel that the Labor Party is the one which deserves our vote in the House of Representatives to form the 43rd government of Australia.

For all the allegations about spending and mismanagement made by the Coalition Parties, the Australian economy remains the envy of the western world. Our debt levels per capita are among the lowest of all OECD countries, our unemployment is low, our trading surplus high. This hasn’t happened by osmosis – but by careful and courageous management of our economy when the wheels were falling off everywhere else.

The previous Howard government left us with a surplus – but this was achieved by denying Age Pensioners an increase to the pittance on which they were asked to live, by refusing to invest in desperately needed infrastructure and by resolutely refusing to raise the Superannuation Guarantee Contribution so more ordinary Australians could experience a better standard of living in retirement.

In other words, economically speaking, things stood still.

The strong economic performance of the Labor Party is not about one person, nor the leader. It is about a team of ministers who took hard financial decisions. In other portfolios such as health, education, foreign affairs and communications many other ministers have worked equally hard to help this country make real progress. It has become a cliché to talk about ‘moving forward’ but this is where I hope Australia is headed. I believe the experience and expertise of the Labor Party will ensure this happens.

On the contrary I am concerned about a Liberal Party with a leader who seems to make policy on the hop without consulting his shadow ministers. I am equally concerned that the likes of Julie Bishop (Shadow Foreign Affairs) Joe Hockey (Shadow Treasury) and Andrew Robb (Shadow Finance) are simply not up to the top jobs.

And when it comes to the topic of so-called ‘boat people’ I am desperately sad to think the Liberal Party are prepared to fan flames of fear and racism simply to be elected.
The above comments, however, are relevant to the House of Representatives.
In the senate I feel the best party to win control and monitor our legislation is the Greens. Our generation have squandered our natural resources and it is our children and grandchildren’s’ generations which will pay. Climate change is not crap. It is real and threatens our very existence. Until we put it at the TOP of our political agenda we are living in a fool’s’ paradise.