Would the federal election please end...

...before the pork-barrelling gets any more blatant?

I haven't posted in awhile lately, and much longer again on the Federal election. I have been keeping up though, although I must say the majority of the column inches in the press has been about the polls and who tricked who into saying what rather than focusing on any substantive policy differences (indeed probably because there are few). Here is my summary of the campaign thus far, which should be all you need to know (probably until ballot day if the parties are as predictable as I think they are):

• The only major policy differences are in the areas of industrial relations and WorkChoices, and climate change. The Coalition will keep WorkChoices, the ALP will scrap it. The ALP will sign Kyoto, the Coalition will not, while still claiming that Australia leads the world on climate change action anyway.
  
• The Democrats are as good as gone, and the Greens have been marginalised.
  
• John Howard claims Kevin Rudd is without substance and cannot be trusted.
• Kevin Rudd claims John Howard is out of ideas and cannot be trusted.
  
• John Howard has attempted to claim credit for good economic management (seemingly manifested by low interest rates), but denies responsibility for interest rate rises (apparently it's everyone else's fault).
• Peter Garrett has been copping it as a sell out.
• Malcolm Turnbull has been copping it as a sell out.
• The left-wig press is salivating at the prospect of John Howard losing his seat.
  
• Both sides are offering big tax cuts.
• The Coalition is again offering middle-class welfare and handouts to pensioners.
• No one thinks Costello should be leader -- not his party nor the electorate.
• On the other hand the Coalition seems to think offering up Howard+Costello as "old+new" but equally "more of the same" is a winning strategy.
• The ALP seems to think me-tooism and refusing to be wedged is a winning strategy.
• The gallery seems to think the ALP is right.