Tomorrow we vote.
Twice in the months before the start of the election campaign I had the feeling that we were about to witness the unedifying spectacle of a government falling apart before our very eyes.
It was not to be, and the government has actually run a pretty credible campaign, given the limitations that were imposed on it, or which it imposed on itself.
Nevertheless, in a country where the prime minister (a) largely sets the agenda as to the direction the country is to head in and yet (b) is not elected, but rather is chosen by the party which holds the majority of seats in the lower house, and in accordance with whatever obscure and arcane rules that party follows in making that choice, it seems to me an insurmountable leap of faith to ask voters to choose a party whose leader has made it a campaign platform that he won't in fact be the leader "at some point" during the next term. In other words, we are being asked to put the future direction of the country in the hands of, well, nobody can say for certain, or at all, effusive praise (in some quarters) for the incumbent treasurer notwithstanding.
And in any event, as you know, I am rigid with fear over the issue of climate change, and neither of the major parties has really come to grips with the magnitude of the problems facing us all. Hence, although I have never entertained the idea of voting for a single-issue party (what if everybody did that?), the single issue this time around so far outweighs everything else (i.e., if we don't sort out climate change it doesn't really matter what your mortgage interest rate is) that the Greens must come into contention. (I quite like their "two Bobs' worth" television ad, too, for what that's worth. I had no idea Bob Brown had a sense of humour.) Tomorrow night, all will be revealed.
Meanwhile, on with the show.
