Thanks for relieving me of some of the shame that I have felt in recent years. I've been ashamed to be an Australian every time that Howard speaks, Costello smirks, Downer bumbles and Reith lied. I'm proud to say that Margo Kingston is my fellow Australian.

May your common sense approach to regaining our pride and our democratic rights prevail. I didn't notice that I'd slowly slipped into apathy. Thanks to your book, that won't happen to me again.

My wife gave me your book for my birthday, 22 July, and on Saturday night I read it between 11pm and 5am, experiencing quite unpleasant bursts of anger and frustration along the way. The Bush visit particularly irked me.

Part of me is wishing that I hadn't read the book because I wouldn't be upset but part of me is eternally grateful to you. Thanks.

I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment that democracy is not a natural state of affairs and that our predecessors made sacrifices that most of us (myself included) do not appreciate. I have always felt drawn to public service. Having read your book, I realise that I also have a duty to do my share to uphold this wonderful society that our predecessors have created.

I also agree that John Howard is not the only culprit - he is partly a sum of his own experiences and our current political system. Our challenge is to change the political culture so that it promotes the people who can lead Australia for Aus

Hi Margo,

Thanks for replying to my query. I'm not particularly familiar with the Marriage Act and was wondering if you could clarify how the Act already makes it clear that marriage is the union of a man and a woman?

NHJ! (HA): Webdiarist Polly Bush provided this answer to the question:

Currently, the Marriage Act (1961) does not define a union as being between a man and a woman, although this is the common law definition and what you would expect the courts to uphold. The Howard Government insists there is some urgency in introducing this legislation to prevent

I found the book gave me a better understanding of what goes on in the real world of our Political 'representatives'. I was disappointed - to put it mildly - that these people while going on about democracy at election time, act like abosolute rulers during the in between periods. I can't think of any at the moment who I would see as 'Statesmen' - ie leaders interested in the next generation rather than the next election.

Katie Blair is right to say that we need Margo to point out how bad the country has become. But the reason I mentioned 'Imagining Australia' was that we need to do more than get mad. Macgregor Duncan and the other authors have this great metaphor for Australian public debate -- the hedgehogs and foxes.

They reckon we have hedgehogs, who only think of the big picture; and foxes, who only think about policy detail. And on the Left, the two groups are talking past one another. Maybe between us all, we can work out a way to fix that.

I am grateful that I decided to take up listening to Phillip Adams LNL after stopping for some time. I picked your and Philips interview, Margo, and through it the existence of Not Happy John!.

It was terrific to see and hear my feelings and suspicions put in clear, understandable language. And all the linkages to other fascinating sites.

The most important thing in this whole excercise was the discovery that I was not the odd one out.

Thank you Margo. Please keep shouting!!!!!!!!!!!!

G'day. For Melbourne readers, David Marr will speak on ethics and politics on Wednesday 29 September at Trades Hall, cnr Lygon & Victoria Streets. 6pm for 6.30pm start, entry $6/$10, with a copy of 'Overland Magazine' thrown in. More info at www.overlandexpress.org or phone 03 9688 4163.

My next gig is this Friday, August 6, at Gleebooks in Sydney, to launch Tony Kevin's book on SIEV-X.

To Troy Rollo and others:

This time the focus MUST be making sure that John Howard is out of government for good - literally. As leader of the Opposition he can do little harm and will give it up to Abbott or Costello, and we will be rid of him.

Even though we have preferential voting, the end result is a first-past-the-post system. I would be wary of many independents splitting the vote, and a handful of votes could make the difference in many seats. If there are a number of Independents and you do want to vote for them - make very sure where their preferences are going. I wouldn't be surprised if a number of 'front' candidates were put up by Liberal - so be very careful where your vote might end up.

BTW if about 4000 people in Bennelong DID change their vote, John W might miss out anyway!

Well that really cheered me up as I have been suffering from a bad bout of pneumonia and I thought things could not get much worse (yeah right!). Thank you Margo for putting into words the frustration that I have been feeling as a Citizen of this country for a long, long time. I suppose my disillusionment with our politicians began as a first time voter when Bob Hawke's Labor, the party I voted for, decided to sell uranium to the French when they said that they would not. Ever since then I have felt that our politicians on all sides have slowly but surely been dividing and selling off Australia's heart. This Government though in particular has gone one step further and decided that our collective soul is up for grabs as well. I for one just want to say that my soul is not for sale and I do believe in the ideals that made Australians a proud and compassionate people. Those ideals of a fair go for all, mateship and doing the right thing just because it is the right thing to do stemmed fr

Thank you for writing this book. I had every intention of writing that I would be writing this one way or another today. I purchased Not Happy, John yesterday afternoon having never heard of it before. Serendipity. Last night I ploughed through 345 pages of it, only being force to put the light out by a weary partner. Given the chance, it is most likely that I would've finished it off and charged straight into a second reading. This book has touched me by saying what I am thinking, but what no body will say. Unorthodoxy is not allowed on television. It isn't allowed in newspapers (not that it makes a terrible amount of sense to refer to newspapers in the plural sense up here in Brisbane). It isn't even allowed around the tea room table. One example should stand for all here. At work I gave up questioning the war in Iraq after my collegues (all of whom are university educated, and, supposedly, skilled in critical thought) after most people retorted with some permutation of 'So you su

In yesterday's Web Diary, Margo wrote 'lots of political commentators write that Mark Latham is concentrating on the

I sometimes read your SMH articles and generally I found them a little on the conservative side for my tastes. I may have had a road to Damascus experience after encountering you excellent book Not happy John.

I have become very saddened by the shift that Australia has made in such a short time to the right and become cold hearted. I have been cheered by the tremendous support for the walks for reconciliation and walks against war but frustrated by the lack of impact on a government which seems to have been allowed to achieve control of parliament as its own territory to do what it will, media and the public service and military.

I would never say that John Howard's is a Nazi or another Hitler because that would dishonour the memories of the countless millions who suffered across Europe and indeed the world during his brutal reign of terror. But I have come to see that there is a fascist movement rising among us in the guise of the Liberal Party. We are seeing

Borrowing from the US Democrats' Convention where they had slogans like: 'The new No CARB diet: No Cheney, no Ashcroft, no Rumsfeld, no Bush and definitely no Rice'. Our Aussie equivalent would be: 'The new No CARBHD diet: No Costello, no Abbott, no Ruddock, no Bishop, no Howard and definitely no Downer!'

BTW, I was surfing Moveon's website and noticed that you can request for one free anti-Bush sticker but will have to pay if you want more (https://www.moveonpac.org/stickers). I am happy to pay for my fair share.

My idea of Utopia would be to see NHJ stickers on a few million car bumpers!

NHJ! (HA): Hear Hear! Stop putting them on your fridges and bathroom walls! They're for car bumpers!

What do you think of the election prospects of a gay, anti-war, anti-FTA, pro-UN, left leaning, private school educated eldest son of a 3Cs family (Conservative, Country, Catholic)?

I am an Australian citizen recently returned after living in Europe, principally the UK, since 1998. As such, discovering and reading WebDiary has been interesting. I must admit that although I had seen the link on www.smh.com.au I hadn't followed it until I read 'Not Happy, John'. Thank you.

After reading your book and catching up on the on-line debate I have decided to follow your suggestion and get involved. Although my distaste at the leadership of Our Beloved Mollusc (John Howard) was a factor in my departure to Europe in early 1998 I was unaware of the depths to which Australian Democracy had sunk, having returned to Australia a month after the private visit of the President of the USA to Australia. The details revealed in NHJ were shocking and have led to my recommending the book

Thank you, Margo, for writing NHJ. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Through your book, web pages, and webdiary, you put a public voice to what many of us have been silently seething at. However, for this Australian, the very statement;