Bring on the donkey vote

This country’s politics is a sham. Our two-party-preferred system has left us in a position that gives sensible voters no real option in the upcoming election.

On one hand we have Labor, with their list of broken promises, rorts and bungled schemes that seems to grow by the day. This is a party populated with the type of politician who disregards all advice, be it from bureaucrats, industry professionals, or the punters the scheme is aimed at, all because they have announced something and they want it done now.

On the other hand, we have the Liberals. This is a party that let John Howard stick around just long enough to lose them the election. The head of the party should’ve seen the writing on the wall and cast Howard off in favour of Costello, a sensible man. This is a party that has after four years finally found a leader in which the public believes in – but how much of his popularity is due to Rudd’s unpopularity – a question that brings me straight back to the problem with a two-party-preferred system. This is quite possibly our next government, and I have to ask myself – are they any better than Labor?

The Liberal politicians have shown themselves to have no unity. The years that followed Rudd’s election win were marred with in-fighting, bickering and back stabbing in the Liberal ranks. Nobody wants to vote for a party that can’t even control itself – what hope do they have of controlling an entire nation?

Out of the many faults that the Libs have, there is only one real issue that gets to me: their refusal to let the NBN exist. I have to admit some bias here – I’m a tech hobbyist and professional, and so I would love to see fibre to the home – to my home at least. If it’s affordable. The latest news on the NBN, that the government has reached an agreement with Telstra for Telstra to offload their copper and HFC customers to the NBN has opened my eyes to a better future for me. I have been painfully stuck with Telstra for years, and any opportunity to get as far away from them as possible is a welcome one. So, what was the Liberal response to this announcement? They are going to stop it.

Don’t they realise that Telstra is a business that needs to be hung, drawn and quartered (think: structural separation) ? This is what the public wants. Yes, the agreement may not get the best deal for Telstra shareholders. Yes, it’s hugely expensive. These are two very important points that need to be taken into account, but let’s face it – at the pace that federal government moves (to do things properly, at least…) it could take several years before a perfect agreement that appeases Telstra, its shareholders and the government is reached. Meanwhile Telstra customers are left further in the lurch because their provider lacks the desire to invest in a network it may soon dispose of.

We saw what happened to the Telecom copper network when Telstra took over; they ceased investment. What would happen if Telstra ADSL customers were left hanging while Telstra and the government haggled for years on end? Nothing good, that’s sure.

All this is bringing me to the point of this article: with the lack of confidence that both Labor and the Liberals inspire in me as a voter, what alternatives are there? The Greens are still people with good intentions, but ultimately complete nutjobs. The Pirate Party are still too infantile. Who else is there? With the election possibly only a few months out and not a single party having their act together, this will shape up to be the year of the donkey vote.