Fixed Term Government - O'Farrell's option

Barry O'Farrell is proposing changes that would allow for an incompetent or corrupt Government to be forced to an election before the end of the fixed 4 year term.  He is proposing that if they win the election in 2012 the Liberal/National government will begin investigating options that will be put to a referendum at the following election in 2016.

I do support fixed 4 year terms as I believe that it gives some surety to the government to get on with the job and be able to accomplish an agenda within that term.  Being fixed, it also removes as much as possible, the temptation to manipulate the election cycle by short term announcements to direct favourable sentiment their way, prior to calling a snap election.  The recent WA experience tells us this does not always work, but that example was one of the crudest attempts we have seen - the public saw through it and Alan Carpenter paid the price.

The people should have a fall back position to remove a government, but it should not be easily done.  The process would have to be able to safeguard against the ability of short term, special interest groups, to generate enough political heat to trigger an election.  That would make government untenable and cause a blowout in the cost of democracy.  The system should be fair to the people and fair to the government.  As it stands now, it favours the government.

Given a reasonable proposition, I would be supporting Barry O'Farrell on this one.