To Mr. Howard

Dear Mr. Howard

Sorry I couldn't find it in my heart to vote for you today. You couldn't even let us say sorry to the Aborigines. True, the sorry wouldn't bring back their dead ancestors massacred in the heat of founding a new nation. That was never the point. It was about letting them know they are part of us and we are part of them. This is our nation. I don't expect the Italians to say sorry to me because the Romans slaughtered my ancestors and there was never a time in my life when it would be appropriate. We wanted the Aborigines to feature in our Olympic ceremony. We were all behind Kathy Freeman winning the 400 metres. You were there. How could you not want us to be one nation? I confess it wasn't the most difficult decision I made today. I really couldn't decide whether to put One Nation, so racist and narrow minded or Family First...seriously, how could they want to burn lesbians at the stake in 2004... as my bottom vote. I didn't like how you sent our troops to the Gulf ages before anything happened and then we were members of a nation who wanted to carpet another with bombs. We didn't even have a chance to say or find out why suddenly this nation was our enemy. You relied on us supporting our troops once there. How cynical is that? Using our emotions against us. Of course we care about our people. We also cared about the Iraqis too. We could see them on television. Not one of them had the living conditions we enjoy here. They were poor. They had no weapons. The weapons inspectors had checked and checked. The only WMD I could see were the ones destroying innocents in a place I hardly knew. I know about it now. You made me get off my well fed bottom and find out why people who were trading petrol for food and had none of my gadgets and lifestyle were such a massive threat to me. Saddam? Didn't America put him there and supply him with chemicals and money? Why do you make me go back and find out all the awful things we have done to each other as people just so I can think straight. We disapprove of world leaders quite often. We do not blow up their people because of it.There are other ways. Leaders seem to get assassinated very easily at times. We helped the Kosovans. Why did we have to lock up and traumatise the incoming refugees fleeing from people you were telling us were evil and disgusting and we should fight? True, we didn't need people who would upset our country, but have a heart. How long does it take to work out if someone is bona fide? Queue jumping. You are right, people shouldn't queue jump. The Kosovans didn't. We looked after them. Our winemakers here were saying the Afghan refugees were fantastic in our vineyards. We have to have people to pick our grapes. We seem to have gone off the idea. Work for the dole? Work while you wait for status? Why are we always going down this destructive path with you?. Then I thought of the people I know who can't get their teeth fixed and the run down state of our hospitals. What has happened to my friends in hospital care because of the shortages. And why doesn't my private medical insurance cover my costs anymore? You've made health a nightmare. I pay a 20 dollar gap to see a doctor now. He can charge that much above the fee. Then there is the matter of some children deserving more funding than others. I am so glad I went to school firstly in a country which educated everyone. It was about brains and learning, not about social strata and income. I am glad my politicians believed we all needed an education because it made for a stronger economy and nation. Then I came here and it was the same. I went to an ordinary school but I had fantastic teachers and we achieved great results in the state. It was about us, not our income, not our postcodes. I went to uni too. I can't believe kids have to pay this huge amount for a first term of 6 weeks, a big mid semester break and who cares if they fail or drift off, you got the fees.Then these young ones go out into life with a massive debt to start them off. I went to uni on a scholarship. I worked to repay the sponsor of this and I have worked ever since. Now I am hearing I may never retire and it would be good for me to keep working. So, apart from all your stuff about telling me what's good for me, which really gets on my nerves, and apart from the fact you have made us destroy innocent lives when we have been a nation of helpers in a time of need, I just want to see the back of you. I am fed up with the con artistry, the clever talk , the treating me like I am stupid and then the tricks . I figure I shall have to speak up more and say what I need. I didn't need you to make my tax return such a mess so that I owed money and had to get an accountant to fix it up with your new, simpler tax scheme. You have tried to pay the money back to us. Timing was totally suss. You could have told us the truth. Nothing wrong with saying - Sorry, I made a mess, let me help you sort it out. You have been elected to govern. Not to make me muddled, not to make me confused. Not to make me sorry you have been my leader. With all due respect, I just couldn't vote for you today.

Kindest regards