It's not only your leader, Carmen, it's also the whole system!

The principal obstacle to this development of political architecture is a lack of imagination. Many are disenchanted with present arrangements. Many, like Carmen Lawrence, want a broader public debate. But they are unwilling to take the next step and ask why this does not happen.

The greatest single obstacle to the development of the strategic capacities of the Australian political system is the familiarity of the two-party system. It is hard for those who have spent a lifetime in the present structure to imagine that control of access to the system, the timing of attention to issues and the phasing of debate could be patterned in significantly different ways. It is hard for many to imagine how such changes might reconfigure the way public opinion is formed.

Yet the drift of electoral support from the major parties and the difficulty of introducing more controversial alternatives to the bar of public opinion may yet stimulate a search for alternatives.

If more come to share Carmen Lawrence's frustration and dissaffection, the structure of the two-party system might yet be recognised as a central obstacle to the formation of a more informed and prudent public opinion. A transformation in the role of the Senate could renew now atrophied policy-making capabilities. This, not internal change in the major parties, is the right remedy for present political discontents.