It's ON!

Today is Monday 15th October 2007 and the first day after the end of the so called "phony election campaign." The PM has finally done the deed and after calling on the Governor General called for the end of the current Parliament and new elections.

In the opening salvo of this campaign the aspirant to the position of PM - Kevin Rudd has made another of those speeches that are starting to give me chills. He talks about a "New Leadership" and talks about "Working Families" and he talks about the plans he will disclose during the campaign.

Why the chills?

Well in the first place - we are not as yet sure about WHO will provide this new leadership that he talks about. In the second place I would like to start to hear something about people like ME - those who have laboured hard for the last forty + years to enable politicians to talk about their 'successes' and who are now in retirement. Were it not for the massive numbers of people in the so called "Baby Boomer" generation who are now ready for retirement there would not BE the 33 year lows in unemployment. It is WE who by retiring have made way for those masses of young people who have been unable to get employment. It certainly has not been government.

Those involved in the business community have managed to take most of their means of production overseas to ANY country that has lower wages bills and fewer conditions of employment.

Meanwhile of course what the current government has done is to introduce a system of industrial relations that is based purely on greed! For the business community it has meant the opportunity to break the power of unionised labour and for those people who are well educated and with skills and/or knowledge to sell an opportunity to secure contracts of service (ie AWAs) that have some hope of making them rich (at least in the short term).

Meanwhile what of the baby boomers who are entering or have already entered retirement?

Who cares! They are past it! They have made their contributions and while they can still vote they are the people who present more of a problem than anything else. After all they had their chance to put together their nest eggs and now it's the turn of someone else.

My criteria for deciding WHO is to be elected - like those for many others in the community will, I suspect be increasingly selfish as the campaign heats up.

I for one will take MY projected needs over the next three years and ask who in government is most likely to do the things that will make MY life bearable!

With prices rising and my illness making it virtually impossible for me to return to the work force if I need to, the number of options about how I can maximise the "what's in it for ME" option, will help to determine the direction of MY vote.

Alas, I live in an electorate in which I am for all practical purposes disenfranchised!

The incumbent happens to belong to a party that has held the electorate for decades and as a result unless there has been a funny and major change to the demographics the nature of the vote is unlikely to change.

The so called "marginal seats" a lot of which appear to be in Queensland, will be interesting.

Queensland is a state in which there have been major demographic changes with lots of people from among the baby boomers seeking out the milder climactic conditions for retirement. The question is - whether they now would continue to support a party that they MAY have voted for all their lives - Labour - knowing that they are no longer part of working families and are really part of the generation that is seeking to have the next few years in the sun able to enjoy their retirement.

Who will offer them the best deal?

Is it Rudd with his promises of plans that may or may not work or something tried and true that will at least maximise investments that are the backbone of superannuation funds!

THAT I suspect is where the answers will come in this election. Of course the media may well manage to change perceptions and actually convince these old codgers that promises of plans will necessarily equate to dollars in the bank.

Let's wait six weeks and see.