The latest poll shows that the two major parties combined now only have support from two thirds of voters. The latest in an endless series of leadership ructions is part of the problem. Voters just don’t trust politicians and it is the party system that is to blame.

The debate about My Health Records is reminiscent of every such debate since the failed Australia Card scheme back in the eighties. Australians have a privacy obsession. What are we so afraid of?

The ABC Lifestyle initiative is an own goal. Instead of pandering to the lowest common denominator of content, it should focus on quality content and continue to excel its online delivery.

Apparently, the sale of Fairfax to Nine is the end of journalism in Australia, the triumph of the cheque book as the only arbiter of a good story and the death knell of democracy. Paul Keating – that most eloquent and cerebral of political alley cats – was particularly scathing in his assessment, but he isn’t alone.

Party politics has been allowed to take control over the political discourse at all levels. The voters are disillusioned and disengaged. How do we break the Gordian Knot of partisan control over democracy?

The problem with Trump is not Donald Trump. The really scary part is that nobody is standing up to him.

Democracy is a system of government designed to protect and uphold the rights of the people. And to protect the people from government. In that sense, the case of the ‘Canberra Two’ is both scary and illuminating.

Democracy is under threat. From Vienna to Washington, Caracas to Istanbul, men with scant regard for the institutions that uphold democracy have been elected, threatening civic freedoms not just in their own countries, but setting dangerous precedents for others to follow. Could it happen here?

Despite the many rules in place to regulate it, political donations remain a scourge on our democracy. The ill conceived ‘Funding and Disclosure’ bill is stalled in the Senate. What we need are simple regulations or maybe even banning political donations altogether.

Short term thinking has taken hold of our society at all levels – our political leaders rarely see beyond the next poll or the next election, and in many ways they are responding to a populace that is equally sucked into the demands of the moment – resulting in ‘the longevity vacuum’ – putting us all at the mercy of an unplanned future.