Major Party Debate on Stateline

Statelines debate with the leaders of the two major parties was aired last night. My initial thoughts after watching the event was that:
a) there should be more of these on a regular basis, irrespective of whether an election is on or not.
b) having just the two parties represented made it a farce. There needs to be more effort to include the minor parties and independents. Quentins excuse that, "it's all about executive power" just doesn't cut it in my book because it completely underestimates the power of minor parties and independents in this system.

What is also interesting is Morris Iemma's comments proceeding the debate. He felt disappointed with his performance and felt he didn't have enough time to express his views. Well Morris, no excuses now, you need to have more debates before the election.

As for their performance on television (not their policies), Debnam looked nervous in his opening speech but improved as the blood flowed. Morris seemed over rehearsed to the point it looked like a performance and not natural, while still carrying his odd maneurisms (eg holding his head at a strange angle). Morris also seemed to be trying to imitate Howard on some occasions too, "this elections is about who you can trust ..." for example.

As for their policy statement, well all I can say is "shame". It is a real shame that a Green does not have an opportunity to express their views in a forum such as that debate because it would have been made glaringly obvious how ill-equipped the major parties are in fighting our water crisis and climate change disaster. The fact that the bulk of the talk on climate change focused on "clean coal technology" and not renewable energy made it a complete farce.

When will a Green be invited to debate the major parties?