Dear Margo, it's your troublesome friend Willy Bach in Brisbane. I am a slow reader, studying, campaigning, etc, and I have just got under way with your book. It is a very enjoyable read. But, I have to say something in relation to your decision to kick out Paul Keating in 1996 and vote for John Howard.

My recollection of that day when the election went the Coalition's way is different. I was at a polling booth in The Gap, at the Hilder Road State Primary School, handing out for the Greens for the very critical seat of Ryan. I was telling voters 'help stop a Thatcherite nightmare, vote Green' - like you are not supposed to, right? But people were giving me quizzical looks.

I remember that at 11 am (that's right) someone approached the Liberal team and said some quiet words to them. Suddenly they were all animated, hugging, hand shaking, beaming at everyone - as though they already knew that they had won. Probably a last minute poll or something. (Margo: The Gap - that's where I lived in Brisbane. And Ryan is the blue ribbon Liberal seat that fell to Labor in a byelection in 2001, pre Tampa, pre S11.)

Anyway, I detested Keating's conceit and arrogance too, but I had already got the drift of the extremism of Howard and his team - what they would love to do to the industrial relations system of this country and other things on their wish list that only the 'war on terror' could have come true.

I believe that the Howard government have proven to be a Thatcherite nightmare and I am very glad that you have written this book. They are indeed a threat to democracy. Their mainentance of power depend on foot soldiers like the Liberal member for Fadden David Jull to just keep putting their hand up at the right time and keeping their heads down most of the time. Not much of the role of being a good representative, more of being a good Party number.

By the way, I did write a review of your Pauline Hanson book which was published online (not there anymore - they went broke). But Pauline's reappearance at Bronwyn Bishop's party last week was very interesting. Howard owes this woman a seat in Cabinet for the anti-refugee policies he has milked for all they are worth. Would they really welcome her back?

Don't make the mistake of voting for the war criminal Howard, anyone. Please, or I might have to head off to Turkmenistan or somewhere, to see if they know more about democracy than us.