Political parties - and their policies !

It is a sad fact of life that the vast majority of Australians usually cast their vote on ideological grounds.  They are either of a " Conservative " frame of mind and support the Liberal/Nationals, or they have a " Socialist " outlook espoused by Labor and it's union allies.   Few have bothered to actually read the policy documents that are the manifesto of either political movement - and therefore the image of both parties is slanted by the opinions on issues presented by the media.

The reigns of government are regularly exchanged between the Conservatives and the Socialists as a portion of " swing voters " tip the balance according to what some see as the " election cycle ".   Whoever is in power gradually loses focus and achievement slips - until it becomes time to " give those other blokes a go ". In recent times, whoever holds power in the lower house is prevented from implementing the issues taken to the last election by a consortium of " independents " who hold the balance of power in the Senate.

A " third force " entered the fray when the " Greenie " movement blossomed out of the woodwork over a proposed dam on a river in Tasmania.     The Greens have a list of convictions on matters they are against - but precious few on items that they are " for " - and hence their stance can be contradictory - and usually unhelpful when national matters are involved.

Now an entirely new political party has burst onto the scene - and like the Greens - it concentrates it's power in the Senate.  It is entirely the creation of an Australian mining billionaire - Clive Palmer - and it sprung to life as a result of his personal protest when both the Federal government and the state government of maverick Queensland thwarted several of his business proposals.

Clive Palmer's   " Palmer United Party " must be given full credit for an innovative and bold approach that garnered sufficient votes to establish a Senate presence, and then cobble together a few other orphan representatives of weird one issue parties that thrive under our complicated Senate voting system.   From " out of nowhere " - it now has a legitimate lock on the balance of power and will have an influence on the legislation that will govern this country - and that is way out of balance with it's share of the vote.

What must alarm many people - is the fact that this is a political party without even a shred of a policy.  It seems that it's decisions will revolve around the personal whims and fancies of Clive Palmer - and those will be heavily influenced by how his fortunes interact with the mix of business and legislation that applies to his mining interests.

We seem to be heading into a style of politics that has bedevilled many sovereign countries of the old world.  Instead of power rotating between two major political blocks the balance has shifted to short lived coalitions of minor parties which form strange alliances , squabble ceaselessly - and lack the will to achieve major reform - or deliver good government.

It seems that the splintering of governments is becoming a world wide phenomenon.   Discipline was once the cement that held the major parties together and strong leaders would brook no revolt from amongst their rank and file.  Today, the media extols the virtues of those who break ranks and it seems that the views of major commentators  hold equal sway to that of party leaders.

We have only to look at the mess that exists in some parts of the world where government has clearly failed to take the measures necessary to trim their spending to match their income.   The outcome for ordinary people is huge unemployment and the failure of government services as the money pool runs dry.

Could this be the fate of Australia ?    The immediate prospects seems ominous !