Many policies were similar for the parties regarding health, education, transport, infrastructure and security, but the one glaring omission from them both is our water issue. The Murray and it's catchment area has been under drought conditions for several years now, the river level is at its lowest for decades, maybe ever, and crop irrigators are having to downsize by removing selected stock in order of having some hope of a future. No solution, other than perhaps some water desalination plants, of which some or most of the water will be used to help expand our mining interests.
The big change is in how the people of Australia will get some respect back. For too long, the Liberals have been running a sort of toxic social agenda, which is having a disparaging affect on particular classes and groups throughout Australia. Our Indigenous people are alienated in their own country, unable to attain the cultural capital necessary to survive in our westernised and domesticised society, and totally cut off from their own traditional customs, which are viewed as having no relevance in a 21st century Australia.
It is true that much of the media was biased towards the Labor vote, although the Liberals did their fair share of advertising. It was, without doubt the most interesting, dirty and spin-doctored election the Australian people have ever experienced.
The major vote clencher for Labor was that the Liberals "Workchoices" sceme was unpopular with working and middle class Australians, and that the Australian people want more bargaining power when it comes to their worth/value. Whether or not this is a good thing or not with the current trends around the globe regarding the shifting economies and work and lifestyle patterns is yet to be seen.
Many staunch Liberal voters are now out in force on local newspaper websites, predicting doom and gloom and hypothesising that the Liberals will need to fix it. It is early, it is exciting, some of it is worrying. The Howard govt did little for infrastructure, education and health over the 11 and a half years they were in power, and Labor will need to spend and spend quickly to overcome this blatant regard for the common good.
With interest rates on the rise around much of the globe, many people in Australia it is inevitable that we will follow suit, so some believe that this is an election that a party may not want to win, because of what may occur

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Is poverty a crime?