First of all, I have been a long time admirer of your views, and was unlucky enough to be too late to get a first edition first printing of your book. I have settled for the second print first edition. I heard you speak on radio 3RRR in Melbourne on the breakfasters show and was moved by your passionate defence of Democracy and your invoking of Menzies, because I only know Menzies as being a stronger truer version of Howard, and at the end of the day Menzies would be mortified to see what had become of his Liberal party.

I was bought up on politics; cut me and I bleed Hansard. When I came home from Primary and Secondary school Parliamentary Question time was on the radio, and the radio was on in every room in the house - including the smallest one. I watched the news, A Current Affair with Willesee and then This Day Tonight.

After 5 hours of Politics 5 days a week it eventually sticks. I knew more about the Whitlam sacking in 1975 than my Grade 5 School teacher. I am so feverently glad that a journalist has taken the battle to protect Australia's variation of democracy.

My Mother was a died in the wool Labour (old school spelling ...) voter and only had time for one liberal and that was Howard. She thought he was the only honest one in the Liberals. She died before he became Prime Minister and her corpse would be spinning in her grave to discover that she had been so successfully hoodwinked for so long.

I am glad that you published your Sydney Institute speech on Webdiary because I was bemused and confused to see John Valder using all your lingo and marketing on last weekends 'Sunday' show on Channel Packer. I was worried Valder had hi-jacked 'Democrazy!' as much as Howard had hi-jacked the Liberal party from the small l liberals.

The greatest concern to me moving forward is not that we get John Howard again, but the fact that the separation of powers seems to mean so little these days and if he was returned would be none existent. He has more in common with Lee Kwan Yu (sic) than the previous Prime Minister's of Australia.

The interference with the head of the Australian Federal Police Mick Keelty and Daryl Williams (as Attorney General) and Phillip Ruddock's ongoing attacks against the Judiciary and the complete undermining of the Head of State - the Governor General - are of real concern to me.

The Governor General is now just a finger puppet head of state. All the big ticket high profile Head of State duties are now performed by the Prime Minister, and it makes me ill every time he exploits the media coverage.

However, the struggle I have is that I believe the motto 'We get the government we deserve'. How do I inspire those around me who would be hard pushed to identify 3 members of the Federal and State Cabinets and the difference between the Upper and Lower houses of Federal (and in my case) State parliament to become engaged and concerned? How do we educate the uneducated and apathetic to move their primary vote to help fund different perspectives and voices, and at the end of the day still vote for their original major party perspective?

Kind regards, and thanks for being the lone voice.

Perhaps you could put a NHJ sticker on your car - feedback suggests that often triggers conversations!