Margo, having returned from 18 months in Palau, where I became for the first time an SMH and webdiary fan, I am stunned. Having devoured the book in 24 hours, I am still shaking my head that through our lack of awareness our democracy is disolving like sugar in water. The insidious nature of the erosion of individual and NGOs right is appalling. It makes me shudder.

I view Howard as Gollum in LOTR 3, his power addiction is terminal to all around him. The vulnerable 'articulates' in society (feminists, gay, indigenous, socialists etc...) and the environment suffer .

All I can say right now is Mr Latham 'Get well and help Australia recover!!.' I will take Margo's sugestion and vote independent first, Labor second - the first time ever for a small l liberal voter. Thank you Margo!!

I am angry, I am upset to the point of tears, I am terribly sad. This morning I was reading in NHJ about the extraordinary security measures taken when Bush visited Canberra and I have just witnessed, in Adelaide, the extraordinary measures taken to protect JH.

I went to the Festival Theatre complex to book some tickets and saw half a dozen kids on the footpath with home-made banners and at least half a dozen police. Walking in towards the theatre I saw the white car, number C1. Some Liberal function was happening.

When I came out I hoped JH might cross my path (no one thought me a threat apparently), but he didn't. I saw that the protestors had moved and police had followed them. I stood next to them and heard that they were forbidden to make their protest and had to move on.

Six teenagers, none of them resisting or shouting, were just trying to reason with the police. But six police were not enough. Along came a white car and out gets a plain clothes - what?

If, to quote from the homepage, the problems lie with 'Big Parties, Big Business and Big Media', is there so much emphasis on the one individual ? Believe it or not, there are parts of the country that prefer Howard to journos (but don't forget that it was while campaigning for gun reform in front of country people that he wore a bullet resistant vest. But that was years ago, and nobody in this country remembers past the budgie cage lining from last week.

Quite frankly, if I judged ALL criticism of Howard by the mindless schoolboy sloganeering (examples from reader reviews include 'Howard and his oligarchy', 'ashamed to be an Australian', 'our own 'Austrian housepainter'') that comprises most of this site, then I would have to assume he was a saint.

I know that ain't

Ms Kingston, I feel the words 'thank you' are simply not enough to express my gratitude for the existence of your book. I'm at a loss to describe the feelings NHJ has evoked in me. It is as if the world around me has changed in the space of 24hrs; from when I picked up the book yesterday afternoon to when I put it down today.

The sad thing is I was not really surprised with the atrocities contained within; it merely cemented my disappointment and lack of faith in our 'honourable' representatives. I only hope the growing discontent among my fellow Australians will be represented by something dramatic and remarkable in the next election giving way to a positive change for all.

As it stands I, in my mere 20 years of existence, feel there something is drastically wrong with our society when the youth of the country not only lose faith in its leaders but never have any to begin with. For we are the future, yet we have little hope. Where are our inspiring leaders? Who a

The John Valder interview onlast week's Sunday program was very revealing. The idea (beautifully articulated by Renata Kaldor), that for otherwise generally conservative voters, any risk to the economy by a Latham Labour Government was, at least in the short term, a worthy alternative to the social disruption of a return of Howard, was a winner. My guess is there are lots of people who feel this way, and need this idea to be seeded and made an acceptable and responsible option.

This festering Howard boil of dishonesty, public information manipulation, and fear-mongering abuse of human rights is not going to go away. It would be a pity if those voters not in the {Valder campaign} targeted seats felt they were stuck with their fears and uncertainties. They need to be helped come to terms with the idea of 'anyone but Howard', and helped to understand they are acting in the true cause of liberalism and comfortable with the idea that rather than abandoning their political lo

I wrote this letter to John Howard on August 17th:

There was a time when Australia was regarded, around the world, as an honest broker, a small, proud, courageous nation. A nation that neither bullied nor crawled, willing to stand up to its friends as well as its enemies. A nation proud of being honest and forthright almost to the point of rudeness, always ready to barrack for the under-dog and both preach and practice giving everyone a fair go. A country in which I was happy and proud to live and glad to see my children and grandchildren grow up.

What have you done to it John Howard?

In the years of your stewardship I have seen Australia become a bully. Our public servants and bureaucrats are bullied into keeping quiet or giving only the advice that you expect from them. Political protest is stifled by

Margo, you may be interested to read a letter I wrote to Mr John Howard this evening, August 18. It contains a brief view of my concerns. Keep up your own good work!

The Prime Minister, Hon. Mr John Howard, MP, The Deputy Prime Minister, Hon. Mr John Anderson, MP, For Information: >The Federal Member for Longman, Hon. Mr Mal Brough, MP

An Appeal from a Conservative Voter

Gentlemen,

It is with some considerable difficulty and regret that I have the need to pen this letter, for I feel that in recent months the credibility of our conservative Government has taken quite a battering. I have laboured over the content of such a letter as this for some weeks, but I shall now give it my best shot.

I am acutely aware that the previous ALP government under Mr Paul Keating received numerous letters of condemnation from my desk as their credibility, in my opinion, was completely in tatters. However, since the conservative government came to

Requiescat In Pace Prime Ministerial Shame

It is with a profound sense of incontinent hilarity that NHJ! announces the retirement of Australian Political Satire, who this morning cited 'personal reasons' when asked what lay behind his surprise decision to flee public life prior to the next Federal election. Pressed on rumours of a breakdown of his fertile 30-year marriage to the political columnist Underlying Serious Observation - who has also recently announced her departure from Canberra - Satire acknowledged that both he and his partner's careers had suffered lately as a result of what he would only describe as 'current affairs', before adding that in his case he saw 'no point in carrying on now anyway, given that all the most audacious lines have been nicked by the Straight Men.'

Asked to comment on the unexpected retirement, the Prime Minister declined to moralise on what he said were purely 'private' matters, but did urge Satire to reconsider his decision:

Thank you for the bumper stickers sent me - they'll all be on Noosa-area vehicles by this evening. When it comes to getting the George Bush clone of John Howard out of office, I am so happy to be able to do more - to feel empowered. I have a dream of a renewed and reinvigorated Australia. I am grateful, and will leave you with an idiom I love which seems appropriate. It is sheer folly to tear at ones hair in grief, as though baldness will lessen the situation.

There is a destiny, which makes us brothers

None goes his way alone,

For all that we bring into the lives of others

Comes back into our own

Margo, I have just finished reading your book and am now recommending it to my friends and family. While I have long felt unease with the direction and policies of the current government, your research has confirmed some of my suspicions and delivered many other tangible examples of anti-democratic behaviour amongst our 'leadership'.

I feel that it would be worthwhile to look at the government's position on industrial relations and the trade union movement in the context of the defence of democracy. In my view trade unions, as collective organisations, provide vehicles for democratic participation. This goverment, however, misses no opportunity to attack trade unions and John Howard recently listed a 'reduction in trade union membership' as an example of his 'achievements' in economic management.

Maybe this is is an area in which JH merely uses the old 'economics above all' mantra as a pretext to stiffle dissent? Of course is unitarist stance also keeps big busines

I am living in Brisbane and was wondering if anybody has started their own NHJ OR SIMILAR interest group? Erosion of our DEMOCRATIC rights are only the symptoms of something much more sinister going on behind the scenes.

As an individual Social Justice Activist I'm doing the best that I can in bringing awareness to the masses by way of personally made advertisement and of course the display (at every opportunity possible) of the NHJ book. I can be contacted at 0422 276 294 or normsense@yahoo.com.au. Thanks - Keep up the excellent work.

Yesterday I was attacked by a peacock on the Pacific Highway at Ulmarra (NSW North Coast) while listening to an update on Mark Latham's pancreatitis

It's great to be back home in Australia!

It seems like every day, something quirky and unexpected happens. You only have to get out and about amongst it and before long you get a bizarre situation like the one above.

I'm certainly not the only one to love this sunburnt country. I was driving between Brisbane and Sydney and have never seen that part of the country looking drier. I could have flown but I wanted to drive and reconnect with my homeland. Dorothea Mackellar juxtaposed many images of Australia in 'My Country'. She wrote of the beauty and the terror of this place.

The juxtaposed images and situations this country has a habit of dishing up have always meant that more than anything you have to respect it. The blue ringed octopus may be pretty, but don't pick it up.

John Howard

The web address for Parliament House listed in the book is incorrect: www.aph.gov.org

The correct address is www.aph.gov.au

I would be interested in joining / starting a NHJ! movement in Perth. Any others in Perth interested?

NHJ responds (AL): Fantastic idea, Stevan. Any interested parties should contact Stevan directly and perhaps soon enough we can unfurl a NHJ banner from one side of Australia to another!

Max Suich, old time media heavyweight, suggests today in The Age that our media establishment is failing in its duty, primarily due to playing the he said/she said game with the political parties, rather than seriously questioning establishment power. It's a very NHJ message.

And, with the American election heating up, an increasing number of entertainers are taking sides and campaigning for Kerry or Bush. This Crikey piece examines the politics of Bruce Springsteen who has teamed up with a number of high profiles musos, along with moveon.org, to take their message of moderation around the US.