... And at least another ten years to undo the damage

He has also used taxpayers’ money to fund government advertising that blatantly promotes Coalition party policy. This is immoral and wrong.

Mr Howard provided leadership in the early years on gun control and pumped Telstra sale funds into repairing the land and intervention in East Timor, with the assistance of the Democrats, brought in strong Federal environment laws, transport emission controls, greenhouse abatement spending and fair moderate IR and tax reform.

But there is no new vision emerging that looks anything like these progressive reforms. Instead Mr Howard's focus is on conservative morals, the economy and terror rather than building a sustainable nation for all Australians.

The more recent copycatting of reactionary American social and foreign policy has left little room for compassionate, inclusive leadership, for protecting endangered species, conserving resources or tackling climate change.

Climate change has now been accepted as a reality by the world’s leading politicians and scientists. Climate change is already having a detrimental impact in Australia. According to leading scientists, a 4C rise could result in thousands of deaths in Australia each year from heat-related diseases, a 148 per cent increase in bushfires, a rise in the frequency of natural disasters and the loss of our treasured natural icons, such as the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu wetlands and the upland forests in Australia's Wet Tropics, as well as our alpine habitats.

Climate change is the world’s most urgent problem, not terrorism. Yet this Government has failed to urgently act in the face of overwhelming evidence and upon the presentation of achievable solutions.

The Prime Minister has destroyed reconciliation and let multiculturalisim decay to a shadow of its former self.

He has taken away small gains made by Indigenous Australians on land rights, abolished their representative body and done little to improve their economic status or prospect of a longer more healthy life. Indigenous health is still the worst in the developed world.

He has also failed to address Australia’s skill shortage or build the infrastructure necessary for a sound economic future.

Econmomist and opinion writer for the Sydney Morning Herald, Ros Gittens stated that "politicians may be making heroes of themselves and proving they can do the impossible by quietly running down the quality and adequacy of public infrastructure". He is not just talking about roads and ports, but other essential services such as schools, hospitals, and water.

The Prime Minister has presided over an unprecedented level of under funding for our universities and TAFEs. Only this week there was talk about providing loans to students of up to $160,000 to pay for their university education. Can you imagine leaving university with a $160,000 debt, and the impact this will have on decisions to have children or capacity to buy a house.

Much needed medical places will be full fee paying. These doctors will feel no social obligation to work in rural settings, with Indigenous communities or with patients who need to be bulk billed.