Trivial Pursuit

In the last Quarterly Essay for 2010, George Megalogenis considers Australia's political dead zone.  The Hawke, Keating and early Howard years were ones of bold reform; recently we have seen an era of power without purpose.  But why?  Is it down to powerful lobbies, or the media, or a failure of leadership, or all the above?  And whatever the case, how will hard decisions be taken...