What happened?

Voters punished Labor for lack of competence, compounded by the Queensland, and particularly NSW state Labor governments.

Changing leaders from Rudd to Gillard only confirmed the voters' perception of lack of competence from the government. As Gillard was involved in decisions during Rudd's leadership, Gillard could not distance herself from the decisions during the election campaign. Voters forgot that many of the decisions were made in the name of stimulus against the backdrop of a global financial tsunami.

Generation Y sees privacy differently.  Generation Y is the first generation to socialise daily using electronic means (eg Facebook, Twitter, SMS messaging, MSN/Yahoo messenger).  This is the main way that they communicate.

Kevin Rudd is no longer Prime Minister of Australia.  Today a precedent is set - the Labor Party has chosen pragmatism over principle by knifing a first-term prime minister after a short period of unpopularity.  Julia Gillard's willingness to put ambition over loyalty starts her prime ministership on a sour note.  Gillard has said that the main cause of the challenge is that she disagreed with Rudd on the direction of the government.  This precedent says to Labor Prime Ministers in the future - do not expect loyalty from your colleagues, expect self-interest.  If the polls start dipping, you will be knifed by your own party.  Expect "Yes Minister"-style risk aversion.

Complaining is a great life skill. Do the following:

1.  Start documenting your contact with the vendor. Document the method of contact (email, phone, post, person), and date and time of contact with the company. Use different methods of contact.
2. Stick to the facts when complaining. Do not use emotive language. List events in chronological order and be as precise as you can. At the end of the complaint, detail the impact on yourself and ask for what you want.
3. If it appears that the vendor is not processing your claim in a timely fashion, contact your ombudsman or consumer affairs and lodge a complaint. Fax, send or email a copy of the consumer affairs complaint you have made to the vendor. 

You require persistence and discipline to document what has happened. I have used this process to resolve several complaints. In one case a complaint took a whole year to resolve.

Banks profit first

Profiteering behaviour by banks is allowed to happen by customers unwilling to change.  Banks in Australia increased margins, increased fees and profited during the financial crisis.  This put increased pressure on small business.  Westpac talked about banana smoothies while redundant workers with a mortgage could not afford milk.  This most profitable bank is also one with low customer service.  When interviewed, Westpac CEO Gail Kelly explains the pressure she is under while collecting a multi-million dollar salary. The government gave the banks a "free kick" by guaranteeing deposits - this has now meant mortgage business has been consolidated in banks and there is reduced competition.

Despite some saying that branch stacking has only been happening for "the last few years", branch stacking has been happening in the Victorian Labor Party for decades.

After attempting to avoid Catherine Deveny's annoying appearances on Q & A and stupid columns in The Age newspaper, and then hearing the deliberately obscene and hurtful comments she broadcast over Twitter, I was glad when The Age got rid of Catherine Deveny.

Government has done nothing effectual to correct the housing bubble in Melbourne, Australia that has been going for years. Do the Australian and state governments have a detailed plan on how to deal with it? Not that I have heard of - yet large mortgage payments are taking money out of the pockets of Australians every day. A popular misconception is that supply and demand is the only factor that determines house prices. I say that the housing boom is fed by three factors.

I suggest the government abandon its misguided plan for web filtering, and instead launch an information campaign and instruction leaflet on how parent can use the free service OpenDNS to monitor and block sites on their children's internet connections. Parents can put a password on their router so that DNS settings can not be changed. There will then be the same level of security as the government's proposed solution. The kids might figure out how to use IPs directly (typing IP addresses directly into the browser) or other DNS traversal methods, but this free filter is no worse than the government's expensive filter.