THERE

are 15.7 million eligible voters in Australia. At the last election 1.4 million failed to vote.

Bear in mind voting is compulsory in Australia.

Imagine the cost of contacting all those voters and possibly fining them. I ask did this occur? If those 1.4 million had cast their votes I am sure the election result would have been quite different.

Each political party receives X number of dollars they receive per vote.This amount is indexed every six months.

From January 1, 2018 to June 30, 2018 they received 270.497 cents per vote. This gives some credence to be in the position to receive the donkey vote. So now we know why voting is compulsory.

The majority of disgruntled voters blame various political parties about our national debt, cost of living etc, however they continue to vote for the very politicians who put us in this parlous position.

So the voters themselves may be responsible for not exercising more caution for whom they vote.

So why should the politicians change their tactics while they enjoy the political gravy train? A gravy train that would entail many more pages than this to enumerate. NICK BELLOFF, SOUTHPORT