WITH a State election imminent, it's hard to define the feeling of anticipation in the community, perhaps excitement, or possibly apprehension, or maybe the one that is probably at the top of many lists - boredom.
It's hard to get excited about politics in today's climate, for notwithstanding the interest in which party will provide the next Premier, there is a feeling that very little will change, regardless of victor.
There was a time when the different parties were able to paint a vision of what they would achieve if they got their hands on the reins of government, but in 2017 our choices are a bit more stark.
Election campaigns are akin to preparing a farm budget, with every option being allowed in the first draft, but after assessing the financial resources available, reality sets in for subsequent budget drafts.
Whether the next Premier is Colin or Mark, the first words of caution will come from Treasury and the grandiose schemes announced so lovingly during the election campaign will have to face fiscal reality.
Even the mechanics of elections have changed, for when I started voting, the result would depend on whether the ALP secured more seats than the combined tally of the Liberals and Country Party.
Independents were virtually unknown, Pauline Hanson was yet to be born and the scourge of the Greens had not even been imagined, so things were a bit more laid back and casual.
Issues were black or white, for any politician promising to build a road would know that it was a winner because existing roads were mostly poor and new roads were always needed.
There was no such thing as an "environmental impact study", not even on the "one million acres" (400,000ha) of virgin bush being thrown open for sale every year.
Defence was always a big vote winner, with the decision to buy the new F-111 aircraft from the US "off the plan" being one example - a real winner because four federal elections were fought on that decision before the first plane arrived in Australia.
The art of polling had been invented long before, but it had not yet become an obsession and there were no weekly polls deciding the fate of a politician or party.
Members of a political party would elect as a leader the one they thought would do the best job, with no thought being given to whether any particular candidate had the ability to excite the voters.
Election manifestos were very popular and the promises generally fairly realistic, but unlike now, politicians expected to implement all their promises, without differentiating between core and non-core.
But politics isn't all drama, for although handing out the how-to-vote cards isn't new, in the country it isn't unusual to hand out the opposition's cards while errands were run or shopping collected before the stores shut.
At another election, the first Bob Hawke victory I think, the local who was handing out the ALP how-to-vote cards was listening to a Sydney radio station and when we still had an hour of voting time left, he announced "we have won", so he put away his cards and went home.
His father was a staunch ALP supporter as well, but he died two days before an election and when offering our condolences to his son, we said "at least that's one vote the ALP will miss out on."
The response was a wide smile and the explanation "he put in an absentee vote before he died".
