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Yes, unless the status quo gets enough of a shock, continuing to support them is like giving an alcoholic a beer in the vain hope they will give it up. It's put the Coalition between a rock and a hard place. They're losing support to One Nation and to try and counter that, they're talking about One Nation when they should be talking about Labor. The Government could end up losing quite a few seats as well. They're a very broad church these days, but the cocktail set won't get them over the line. They still need their traditional base of the blue collar worker, and that's the main demographic heading to ON. Another thing to ponder is this - Coalition voters who have gone to One Nation will not likely go fom there to Labor in the future; if they move from ON, they will most likely go back to the Coalition. On the other hand, the demographic that is deserting Labor for One Nation, would they be more likely to go straight back to Labor in similar circumstance? I'd tend to think if they've left Labor and leapfrogged the Coalition to ON, they might be tempted to go to the Coalition in the future if the Coalition came up with some appealing policies and narratives. It's a potential problem I see for Labor.

The major parties have had 125 years to get it right. In all that time you'd think they would have learned that democracy means more than just having an election every three years and then treating the electorate with contempt. They're simply not the kind of people we want governing us anymore, they've had their day, their psyches are no longer fit for purpose.

Yes, that's easy to see. So how can we motivate the ruling politicians to... 1. Listen to the electorate. 2. Take action to react to the electorate's concerns. 3. Communicate to the electorate about what action they are taking. 4. Restore the lost trust. Maybe by demonstrating that they fulfil their election promises. Otherwise, brace yourself for a local repeat of the trumpian disaster.

I think you'll find they get their information from their bank account and what is left in them after the bills are paid.. or their crumbling health services, etc. Murdich makes it easy ti fund someone to blame and someone to use to punish the incumbents. Look over here.. a PM who finally gets it and with really tiny tweaks, the protest party, Reform and his mates are imploding in the polls

It is depressing but the reality is the incumbents won't change unless it is forced on them.. And there appears only one way they will get it.

You can thank privatisation for that. User pays. A base station isn't cheap. If it doesn't make a profit over and above the install cost there, it doesn't get installed. A handful of customers will never be profitable. If you want capital city services, move to a capital city.

And where do they get their information From? Murdock and now overseas BOT's? If they checked things out Australia is right up with the best economic performers in the world. Still got triple A ratings Inflation in control Adequate fuel reserves. Just tell ME were all you whingers would rather be living right now, if it's so hopeless here. Nev

It amazes me some of the places that don't have mobile phone coverage. Ten years ago I went for a visit to Tasmania and visited people in the Upper Esk Valley. They had no coverage and had to drive to town to get a signal. As far as I know it's still like that. I would have thought with the number of people it would service, it would be a fairly simple matter to put a tower on one of the hills there.

For anyone still pondering why so many people are turning to One Nation, the easiest way to find out is just go down to the pub and talk to some concretors or brickies or truckies. People from a variety of walks of life are making the shift, but the biggest demographic is the working class blue collar workers. They'll tell you all about it.

I can't get a code anymore for my online banking changes. The bank will only send a code via mobile phone now, not landline, the way I used to receive it. I don't have a mobile, and even if I did have one, there is no reception here. I'm up the creek without a paddle. In this respect, online banking doesn't exist for me any longer, I'll have to drive all the way to town, at their whim, and do my banking at the counter. The only other way is to buy a mobile phone, travel 10ks or more to higher ground, download the code, rush back home, enter it, hoping I haven't been automatically logged out due to inactivity. Everyone around here will be similarly affected. There's no consideration for bushies anymore, if there ever was.

I kind of agree but only where the holder of such views influences others with them. If it's just your average idiot on a forum, no. If it's an influencer with 10,000 followers, yes.

But back to topic - yes I think Jerry has it but it's damn depressing. The fact that people are angry at the status quo I get. The fact that they don't care that things can get a lot worse for them, that's the sad bit. Looks like the lessons we should be learning from the USA are not being learned. Dark times ahead.

Unless your phone is really old, you should be able to search up "wi-fi calling" in Settings and switch that on. Then you can get calls and texts with your phone using wi-fi from your home internet.

Count Binface, a satirical candidate in the Clacton by-election included in his policies requiring anyone who denies human-caused climate change to return to school. Quite frankly, I would have voted for him if he was in my electorate on that alone. The Australian death toll from the Nepal disaster alone - which is hard not to ague was the result of climate change - was 46. Stuff will get worse.. My favourite saying is facts don't give a ship about what people think.

Should climate change denialism be a new form of crime against humanity? I think so.

This belongs in the Gripes thread, it has nothing to do with the two party system or Australian elections. But I agree, the overriding demand to do everything on your phone is a real pain. Now you can get your drivers licence on your phone. Soon it will be the only way, like it or not. Not happy, Jan.

On the subject of voters no longer listening, it has a two part effect. On the one hand, they no longer trust or believe the incumbents and stop listening to the sales pitch. The other factor is that the only way the majors can dismantle the One Nation juggernaut is to point out the faults and weaknesses of ON. That's where the second part comes in; people stop listenening to that as well and basiclly couldn't care less about the party's faults if it means getting rid of the status quo.

Jerry gets it. What is happening with the swing to One Nation is a movement to burn down the house and start again. The problem for the incumbents is that at some point, people are so fed up that they just stop listening. The federal Labor government has long ago realised that this could hurt them, and not just the Coalition as they initially thought. The government is and will be trying to turn it around, but once people develop a deaf ear to them, the government is done. Maybe it's reached that point now, but if not, it's not far away.

I can't get a code anymore for my online banking changes. The bank will only send a code via mobile phone now, not landline, the way I used to receive it. I don't have a mobile, and even if I did have one, there is no reception here. I'm up the creek without a paddle. In this respect, online banking doesn't exist for me any longer, I'll have to drive all the way to town, at their whim, and do my banking at the counter. The only other way is to buy a mobile phone, travel 10ks or more to higher ground, download the code, rush back home, enter it, hoping I haven't been automatically logged out due to inactivity. Everyone around here will be similarly affected.

The bigger Motor is already not well balanced. Increasing it's capacity and revving higher won't make it nice. Nev

It's always about him.. Nev

Australian boxer Tony Mundine has died, aged 75. It is believed he had a heart attack and couldn't be revived.

With the vastly inflated ego, I'm not sure there's any room left for a brain.

Donald Trump has two parts to his brain - left and right. The left half, there's nothing right. The right half, there's nothing left.

40 Nev