It's nine days since I have written a proper blog post about the federal election. It's not that I haven't been paying attention - apart from my abject refusal to watch television (except for video-on-demand). It's just that there hasn't been enough for me to meaningfully comment about.

This isn't so much an election non-campaign as an anti-campaign. The Liberals gave us a policy launch thirteen days prior to the election date without any policies. Labor will launch its campaign thirty days after its leader announced the election. We've had a "debate" which turned out to be a mega focus group session packaged as a show for a pay-TV news channel with a miniscule audience. Reality TV anyone?

Policies? News on this front is still dripping out, but one infrastructure example from each side take various forms of items for sale at your local patisserie:

From the Coalition, a broadband policy that would scrap the already-commenced National Broadband Network and replace it with something more closely resembling the recently-departed Ted Stevens' "series of tubes" and reliant on the goodwill of the beloved market forces.

From the Labor Party, a proposal to resurrect the plan for a rail link from Parramatta to Epping (in Maxine McKew's electorate of Bennelong). Two billion dollars worth of pork barrelling in one hit. Much needed but, to mix my transport infrastructure metaphors, a horse that has long since bolted. A federal government trying to cover up for the dysfunctionality of its state counterparts, which will be an irony if the poisonous nature of NSW Labor is the cause of the Gillard Government's failure on August 21.

The only truly interesting feature of the election trail over the past week came from the cameo appearances of Mark Latham. That, however, has nothing genuine to do with this election, but rather would serve as an excellent case study for media operations and for psychoanalysis.

My take, at this point, on what should happen - first and foremost, any political party dominated by climate change sceptics is unfit for government. For all of Tony Abbott's many failings, that for me is the over-riding factor. The Australian Labor Party is a rotten organisation, and will remain so until the NSW branch is surgically removed from all positions of power and influence. However, in a two-party preferred environment the Labor Party is the less bad option. I wouldn't be sorry to see a hung parliament for a short while. In the Senate, outright balance of power in the hands of the Greens is a goal worth looking towards.

My take on what will happen? Dunno. Opinion polls are all over the shop and no one seems too fussed to talk about statistical margin of error. Likely scenario is that Labor will be returned to office, probably with a similar or smaller margin than if Kevin Rudd was still its leader. A hung parliament, with three independents and maybe a Green in Lindsay Tanner's old seat, is possible. As mentioned in the last paragraph, I wouldn't be upset to see that happen...

...unless it made Bob Katter the most powerful man in Australia.