![\"OutsideTheBubble\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nofibs.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/OutsideTheBubble1.jpg?resize=600%2C300\")
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by\u00a0Margo Kingston<\/a><\/p>\n 19 August 2013<\/p>\n It\u2019s over for Labor. I knew it intellectually when I saw Rudd steal from the Coalition the Northern Australia policy Labor had already destroyed, then hold up a bottle of vegemite to scare voters about a GST Abbott had convincingly ruled out in his first term.<\/p>\n I felt it when I read Labor election campaign strategists telling Rudd via Peter Hartcher<\/a> how he should change his tactics.<\/p>\n So that\u2019s that then.<\/p>\n For those progressives who engage with and care about politics it\u2019s time to drown sorrows, go on holidays or shred your humanity playing blame games\u00a0or clawing members of the winning team.<\/p>\n For the media, its time to write the same story that Labor has lost over and over again, throw in some blame analysis and, of course, record the pathos and triumph of a changing of the guard. Lots of colour there.<\/p>\n Please, let\u2019s do something different, for all of us.<\/p>\n Voters actually know very little about what a Coalition government would do. Tony Abbott is on the record many times saying he will not renege on commitments to voters, but he hasn\u2019t made many, really. His Real Solutions booklet is very light on policy detail and there\u2019s still no sign of \u00a0substantive health or education policies or what the Coalition plans for the ABC and SBS.<\/p>\n Malcolm Turnbull has delivered a detailed NBN policy and Scott Morrison has done the same for boat people policy, but has any other shadow minister delivered a substantive policy?<\/p>\n Some in the disability field fear the Coalition may narrowly define \u2018disability\u2019 to save money on the NDIS. The Climate Change Authority<\/a> will release its recommended targets for emissions reduction in October – will the Coalition commit to endorsing them?<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s privatisation. No Fibs contributor Gratton Wilson emailed me today wondering whether the Coalition would privatise any arm of the ABC, Australia Post, CSIRO or the Film and Sound Archive. Would it outsource the running of Landcare?<\/p>\n Abbott gave voters a useful clue on his intentions in government during a speech to the IPA this year<\/a>\u00a0which ticked off \u00a0some of the think-tanks 75 big policy ideas<\/a>. How many more are in the wings?<\/p>\n The more questions asked and answered on substantive policy the better for voters. It is the duty of the media to have a go.<\/p>\n I\u2019m sure many community groups have submitted detailed questions to frontbenchers of key policy areas – how many have been answered?<\/p>\n There\u2019s actually a lot of solid, democratic work to be done before the election by engaged citizens, community groups and the media.<\/p>\n