As the Federal election is 2 weeks away I thought it important to make a few comments, not about the policies of Liberal/Nationals/Labor/Greens/One Nation etc. or who I think will win, but rather using history and facts, add some calm to the election noise.

Firstly, it is well documented that Australia has not had a recession in 28 years and during that time both the Liberal/National Coalition and Labor have been in Government. Both parties during this period have concentrated on micro-economic reforms because the major macro-economic reforms, e.g. floating of the Australian dollar, independence of the Reserve Bank and targeting of inflation in the 2-3% band, de-regulation of the financial services industry, etc. were implemented in the previous decade.  As a consequence of these macro-economic reforms Australia is integrated into the global economy and our economic fortune will in a significant part be dictated by events overseas.

The second point is that both parties support a progressive taxation system which means they both use fiscal policy as a wealth re-distribution tool, and they support handouts in the form of grants and subsidies, as well as universal health care.

As we all know change is inevitable and some policies of both parties will be dumped and amended after the election. Regardless of which party wins then it is highly likely they will not have a majority in the Senate, so compromise will be necessary for legislation to be passed. Compromise is the hallmark of democracy and it has served Australia well since federation. This leads to my final point.

I urge all to exercise your right to vote as you are lucky to live in a “Full” democracy which is a rare and wonderful thing. If you go to the Democracy Index published by Economist Intelligence Unit or the Wikipedia website you will see that Australia is ranked 9th in the world and that there are only 20 “Full” democracies. USA is 25th and is scored as a “Flawed” democracy and there are 53 countries scored  “Authoritarian”, including China which is our largest trading partner.

Finally, the world will not end if your party does not win. The sun will rise on the morning of Sunday 19 May 2019!