Countdown to the next Australian Federal Election: 2016

The first date that a normal House and half-Senate election can be held in Australia is 6 August 2016.

The last date on which the next election can be held is 14 January 2017.

So assuming the election is held and it takes a while to finalise, I estimate that Tony Abbott's last day as PM will be 31st December 2016.

I have added a widget to this blog to count down to this date, just to keep it in the front of our minds that all tings must pass.

I don't have anything in particular against Clive Palmer, but.......

Is there really a constituency in Australia, or even the world who would find Clive Palmer representative of their social political concerns and issues?

The only way he will win Fairfax is through an expensive process of challenges powered by a top notch legal team most people would never be able to access.

I'm reminded of the gun toting scumbag Gorge Zimmerman who murdered a young Trayvon Martin in cold blood. Palmer is nothing like Zimmerman obviously but the legal scenario smells the same. Money wins! Zimmerman was backed by the NRA because he exercised his ridiculous right to carry a gun.

Australia, we have three years to plan for a better outcome

I used to be passionate about politics.

When I was young there seemed to be a real line in the sand between left and right.

There was also the Australian Democrats, the Greens under Bob Brown and ALP leaders from Union rank and file. Outside of Australia we had the Berlin wall the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Rwanda, South Africa etc making us feel lucky to be where we were.

.... i blame the earthquake

We're lucky in Melbourne. We live in a beautiful city in a pretty good country, we're very rarely affected by natural or manmade disasters. Our leaders are no more or less competent than any others, but at least they are democratically elected, if that's something that means anything to you.

In fact, upon reflection, you could say that Melbourne is a bit boring. I certainly wouldn't say that, as I beleive there is plenty to keep a person occupied here, but in terms of hard hitting sensational or tabloid news, car crashes and very infrequent gang related crime is as exciting as it gets.

i am praying that religious education will be removed from the Victorian state school curriculum

When I was a child, I had a note from my parents that excused me from religious instruction. This was mainly due to my mother's wishes. She was as staunch an atheist as anyone I have ever met. I believe the class was somewhere from half an hour to an hour a week, during which time myself, a Japanese kid and another boy who I now assume was Jewish, would sit and draw or read. 

It wasn't exactly wasted time, as I have fond memories of how quiet and relaxing it was. A much more effective alternative however would have been to have the whole class sit through a session on ethics, rationality and morality as applied to society as a whole, taken by a real teacher.