A contest of ideas?

So what are the major issues in the coming Federal Election here in Australia? Over at Imagining Australia, they had this great little summary:

So the election is finally underway. It doesn't take a political genius to know that this is going to be a nasty, bruising campaign. When we were launching Imagining Australia we were often asked about our thoughts on this election. As you may see over the next few weeks, we each have our own views on this, but one thing that we agree on is that we hope that this election will be a serious contest of ideas. There are too many important issues facing our country for this election to be dominated by short-term campaigning opportunism. What we'd like to see is an election like the one we had in 1993. Let's see Howard and Latham honestly and comprehensively outline their vision for the country -- where they'd like to see Australia in 20 years --- and how they plan to achieve it.

The Australian also ran a editorial piece contrasting the combatants and sumarising some of the issues:

Whislt both men (Howard and Latham) will point to their opponent as the inevitable architect of disaster in office, the truth is that not a great deal divides them. Mr Howard is not as mean-spirited as he is often painted. His refusal to tackle social policy reform demonstrates he lacks the capacity for tough love needed to get millions of Australians off the wasteland of the welfare rolls and into the workforce, where they can build a future for their families. Mr Latham is not the extreme enemy of the United States he is often portrayed. Both candidates are also united by the apparent absence from their electoral armouries of comprehensive plans for the next stage of national reform.

Howard promises to show us plans for the next 10 years during the campaign. But on his form since the last election, those who expect new and practical ideas risk disappointment. Mr Latham will also need to provide a great deal more information than we have seen to date to demonstrate he can maintain economic growth while improving government services. The great tragedy of this election is that both parties are behaving as if the good times, born of the structural reforms begun in the 1980s, will roll on forever. But without another round of social and economic reform they will inevitably end. We cannot afford a politics-as usual election that does not offer a choice of competing visions.

Not that we Australians are yet getting any such vigorous contests of ideas, or grand visions for the future of our nation, or even something that resembles a sound policy idea at the moment. What we have at the moment is MP's debating over whether or not our Prime Minister is a lying rodent.... Pathetic!

We couldn't care less about schoolyard name-calling. What we want to know is "Where's the beef?" We need to see the policy detail, not just the slogans and promises, on how they will make Australians a happier, more prosperous people.