Just watched Julia Gillard being interviewed in her first post-dumping public statement. An enthralling interview. She was a class-act and to have her followed by Rudd and then Abbott is a testament to the mindlessness of the majority of Australians.

Apart from viewing Gillard in a totally different (and positive) light, I can't fail to draw the conclusion that politics in Australia is in a deplorable and disreputable state.

Australia desperately needs people with ethics, vision, principle, and a drive for the national good: not the many dickheads and self-servers there now.

When Rudd ran his Ideas Summit 2020 when he come to power, I happened to be invited. I went along with an strong optimistic expectation.

I happened to be allocated to a group which was chaired by someone who shall remain nameless - but who is no longer in Parliament.

She asked the group, "How can public trust and confidence in politicians be improved?" I responded with a long list of suggestion, including:

• Improve access to the process.
• Increase participation.
• Improve MP and ministerial honesty.
• Decrease cynicism.
• Decrease breaches of trust (promise must equal delivery).
• Decrease manipulation of the process by politicians - (e.g. election timing, gerrymandering, pork-barrelling, etc.)
• Eliminate cronyism.
• Eliminate political favouritism (electoral pork-barrelling) - No undeclared accommodation to pressure groups.
• Increase Ministerial integrity - Ministerial accountability and performance standards must be independently determined with power to sack for certain activities that breach the oath of office.
• Improve accountability for promises made.
• Encourage a view by Australian citizens of government that it is the “enabler” of the people and it is there to serve them.
• Increase the breadth of bipartisanship (i.e. what are the issues that we must work together versus the issue where differences enhance outcomes? (i.e. Issues that are the “National Agenda” versus issues that are party-specific.)
• No undeclared political party donations.
• No political advertising using public funds – independent ombudsman to be appointed.
• No conflicts of interest at any level of government: elected officials and staff.
• Public servants’ recommendation is adopted but if ministerial discretion is used to over-ride, then the reasons for departure must be publically declared and verifiable.
• Banning of appointment to private-sector portfolio-related position within 18 months of holding public office.
• Separation of Church and State.
• Greater use of conscience vote.
• Eliminate compromise of judiciary caused by political selections to benches.
• Meritocracy-based allocation of responsibilities.

Regardless of which of these suggestion have merit or not, the Chairperson stopped me about halfway through the list and almost shrieked "Have you any idea how hard we work?"

And that was it - total failure to understand the issue and the cynicism of the constituency about their elected representatives. Pathetic yet symptomatic of the state of our Parliamentary system at the moment.

We deserve better,