On 27 November this year, Victorians will make yet another trip to the polls to select a government for the next four years.

Until six months ago it seemed John Brumby and the Labor Party were a shoo-in for the top job; more recently, however, a wave of disappointment at Labor\'s perceived failures at both state and federal levels indicate that the Coalition under Ted Baillieu are in with a fighting chance.

Election promises from politicians will soon become thick on the ground, even though experience suggests that few, if any, will be completely fulfilled. The biblical saying - Ask, and thou shalt receive\' still applies, however, so here\'s my wishlist for major parties over the next few months:

Education - at a federal level Julia Gillard has grabbed the bull by the horns and stared down the teacher\'s union which was adamantly opposed to individual school assessments. This good work needs to be followed up via a simplification of the curriculum that emphasises basic literacy and numeracy skills ahead of nebulous concepts like Dreamtime and Asian perspectives.

Law & Order - although all Australian states are gradually seeing their powers being ceded to Canberra, policing and the enforcement of laws are still well within Spring Street\'s mandate. In 1989 when I first visited New York City as an adult, Central Park was so dangerous that walking through it after dark was considered tantamount to suicide. Since that time a \'zero tolerance\' policy to law and order was put in place by the city\'s government, and now New York is one of the world\'s safest places. It\'d be both good politics and common sense for a similar approach to be trialled here in Melbourne.

Health - this is a most difficult portfolio to improve. There aren\'t piles of extra money in the state budget to increase the numbers of doctors, nurses and hospitals, yet waiting lists cannot continue to lengthen.

To be honest, I\'d contact the Prime Minister soon after the election and
see if a federal takeover of the entire system is still on offer.

Property Taxes - these include stamp duty, land tax and rates, and in some cases are both unpopular and downright silly. While most residents have no problem seeing the link between, say, rates (actually a council tax) and basic services like rubbish removal, why the state government continues to lure in first homebuyers with the grant of the same name, only to slug them with a greater amount of stamp duty the moment they actually buy a home, defies belief. If stamp duty must remain for the good of the overall budget, at least get rid of it for those purchasing their first house.

Global Warming - despite all the, er, hot air generated over this issue, we
need to recognise that there\'s little state governments can really do about it.
If you\'re environmentally inclined, save your passion for the federal government and vote accordingly at that other election which is coming up on August 21.

In conclusion, political parties will generally fail if they try to be all things to all people. What our two leaders should do is select a few key policies in which they passionately believe, and run hard with them.

Tom Elliott - MME Capital 03 9601 4515 www.mmecapital.com.au
Note from the Editor - Tom Elliott was not advised that this issue would include interviews with the Candidates for Melbourne, Tom\'s comments are purely independent and he was given no insight into the questions nor answers included within this section.