Australian Politics and ruling Australia in general

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Australia is fine and all, but it could be better - MUCH better! I have thought for so long now that I could do a better job than the PMs we've had for the past two decades! They're seriously out of touch with so much of the country.

If I was in charge, there are a number of significant issues I would tackle:

1) Same-Sex Marriage: Force it through and make it unchangeable law. It's about time people of that particular orientation got a chance to do what many heterosexuals have abused so much (multiple divorces, etc).

2) AFN (Aussie Fiber Network): The letters NBN and MTM have become toxic and negative. My thought is to replace all of the archaic copper (or the vast, vast majority of it) with high-speed fiber lines. No more of this FTTN nonsense. At last Australia would have decent speeds that would see us rise up on the global ranking.

3) Mining Tax and Religion Tax: Companies and people like Gina Reinhardt and Rupert Murdoch can definitely afford to give more than they already do, and they will. Tax the rich, ease up on the poor - it's that simple. Also religious institutions will no longer hide behind tax exemption status, and will have to pay or incur severe criminal charges.

4) Justice Overhaul: The justice system in Australia is grossly flawed and not worth believing in. Penalties such as murder, rape, sexual assault, and terrorism (among many others) would be punishable by life imprisonment. Parole and good behaviour bonds would no longer exist - they are weak. Court proceedings would, under normal circumstances, be allowed to be televised. Manslaughter would be redefined as justified murder (ie. a victim of domestic violence kills their abusive partner). So much to do here...!

5) Tobacco Tax Super-Hike: For a product that has zero health benefits, people sure do like to slowly commit suicide. Ideally classing tobacco products as biological weapons would be awesome, but if that isn't possible, taxing them even more than they are now would be a start. In addition, smokers who go in for most medical procedures would be forced to pay more, unless they can prove without a doubt that they've quit. The tax would be exponential in growth (2%, 4%, 8%, 16%, and so on...).

6) Religious Rights Revoked: By this I mean that people could no longer refuse medical care for family members (in particular, children) based on their beliefs (a problem with JWs if I recall). On the flip side, an employer could not be prejudiced against someone based on the beliefs of either party. Religious private schools would also have their funding cut - if they're that exclusive they can do fundraisers or something instead of getting an unnecessary hand-out. This policy basically castrates religious rights - the whole idea!

7) Secular Teachings in Public Schools: No more scripture fairy-tales in public schools. No chaplain nonsense either. Science and evolution would be taught exclusively, and religion would be purged from the classroom. I don't know about anyone else but I'd like the children of the future to be thinkers and individuals, instead of blindly-obedient sheep.

This is but a small part of what I'd want to get done. There would be much more to do as well.

I'd also try to get the flag changed to something more befitting 21st century Australia. Something like this...

As a fellow Australian myself, I certainly agree that the politics in this country is one hell of a mess. The issues you brought up aren't all ones that stand out me (some do, some don't), but it's all pretty messed up, and now in the wake of our most recent election we have another circus on our hands. Despite being too young to vote, I'm certainly on the side of Labour and the Greens, and I don't really get why people vote for the Coalition or, worse still, Pauline Hanson and One Nation. If there are other people on here who disagree, you're certainly entitled to, and I hope I haven't offended anyone. Probably the issues that jump out at me are refugees & asylum seekers (yes, we do need to stop the boats but the cruelty in those detention centres is just unbelievable), domestic violence, health & education, gay marriage and climate change. I also personally wish the government would stop being so gung-ho on military spending - I don't see how we need twelve submarines! Plus there's too much hate against Islam, some of it political and some of it in the community. I'm an atheist myself, and not a big fan of religion, but they shouldn't all be tarred with the same brush. I also don't like that all the focus seems to be on jobs, business and the economy when there are so many people who need other forms of help. Just my thoughts. Hopefully, things with the election will sort out and maybe some of this stuff will get through.

You get my vote dan. Except for maybe the flag

One party that did interest me was the flux party. I like the concept of a more dynamic input from the public.

Nothing wrong with the flag design Stephen. I just think we can do without the Union Jack (and the ties to the UK Commonwealth). Become our own country just as America, China, and India have. Not isolationist, but definitely not subtlety-subservient either!

There are issues I'd want to tackle beyond what I already stated; those being an NBN 2.0, castrating religious influence, hardening the justice system (not too much though), and getting same-sex marriage legal. No there are more issues. It's just that they're quite a few to list, perhaps too many to do so here.

- Cutting parliamentary salaries quite a bit (no more taxpayer funded helicopter rides, hint hint cough*Bishop*cough)
- Rethinking anti-drug and anti-gun laws
- Consideration of a national blacklist (denial of entry to certain people/groups, although I'm aware this could be controversial itself)
- Making it law that persons in positions of power MUST know English or they MUST leave and get someone who does (a certain faith leader in Australia still does not know the language despite being here for years)

It will take some time to figure out a full manifesto of sorts, but I'm confident I can do it.

EDIT: One thing I'd do which is perhaps important to many people is...BRING OUR TROOPS HOME!!

Unless a conflict directly involves or affects us in a significant way, we will not participate!! We will look after our own first before attempting to meddle in the affairs of others!!