fiscal irresponsibilty by the states, page-8

What point is there in hating anyone? waste of energy, mate.

I'm not fond of pollies whichever persuasion - statesmen are another matter. It is as well to keep a close eye on them all. Rudd is proving to be Howard lite in some ways - his pompous moralising has been particularly nauseating.

On the positive side nonetheless, I can see movements toward a republic, oiled by the gelatinous presence of Turnbull. It will be interesting to see whether Rudd can engineer a successful referendum to give constitutional power to regional governments - we are still annoyed here in Qld with Bligh's forced amalgamations.

So there might be a tradeoff ... the Bligh government falls, and folks are cross enough to vote for a constitutional change which could make the formation of a republic smoother.

Great time to be alive!