They say we get what we deserve. Never has this been more true than in the 2010 Australian Federal election. (See It’s a toss of a coin, August 20).

Sadly, the outcome of former Prime Minister Howard’s “comfortable society” is a country that is devoid of vision, of leadership and has the political conversation of that of a small, inwardly focused aged care ward.

In 2010, and at a time when someone needed to stand up, both parties chose what they believed was the safe route. In reality they chose to focus on the title of power, not what is required of those who will wield this power on behalf of all Australians.

What the country is calling for is a vision for the future. A vision of the future that is more than what we are at present or what we have been historically.

Australia needs a vision and a sense of purpose that captures the very elements that have made us historically a great country. That harnesses the ethos of the clever country through an innovative industrial sector, that proudly claims the value-adding opportunities that our rich natural resources provide us with and delivers equality of opportunity that underpins the now cliched term ‘a fair go for all’.

The greatest tragedy of this election is not what has been said, claimed and done, but what has been left unsaid, ignored and removed from the national conversation.

Michael Johnson