G'day. Adelaide citizen and NHJ team member S is a worried man after Howard's appearance on Sunday this morning, which was followed by a feature called Not happy, John!. on John Valder's campaign to unseat Howard in Bennelong. S wrote:

''I'm very worried. The PM's focus on interest rates on this morning's Sunday programme, makes it clear that he's going to focus on that during this campaign. During the recent property boom, a significant number of people have borrowed significant amounts of money, so they're likely to be influenced by the PM's scare campaign about higher interest rates under Labor.

'Recent elections have shown that even the smallest tax cuts influence voters one way or another (e.g. the 'GST' Election - without tax cut sweeteners, the Howard Government would never have been re-elected & had a chance to implement the GST), so I have little faith that the majority of people will look beyond their own pockets when making a decision on who they'll vote for in the next election.

'The Howard Government is feeding this kind of selfish thinking - in my mind, this is the biggest threat our society faces & is the biggest threat to families (the focus on gay marriage in recent times is way off the mark in respect of damaging families - the real threat is staring us in the face).

'How many people do you know who actually believe that both parents need to work just to get by - getting by is no longer feeding & clothing kids, making sure they have a good education & have money to play some club sport. Getting by, in today's standards, is borrowing ridiculous amounts to buy a $10,000 plasma TV.

'Of course, there are plenty of familles who really are struggling to make ends meet, but its not those people that Howard's Government is targeting.

'To give you an example of my frustration with this - I have a colleague who I regard as a very good friend & a great person. Recently, when the budget was announced, he came to work the next day announcing to me on arrival that they (meaning the Howard Government) had his vote. I asked him what he meant & he told me that the tax cuts had swayed him. I also have members of my family who are similarly swayed.

'In my opinion, the real challenge we face is making people there's more to all of this than their own pocket. How much will $5 a week mean when we become the target of terrorists through our terrible foreign policy, when family life deteriorates because both parents are working to make ends meet & have no time to spend with family, when we further alienate parts of our society?

'How do we get people to look beyond their own pocket? My fear is that if we don't/can't/won't, the next election will be lost.'