Pollies listening at last, says Hawke

Federal politicians will be listening as never before, and now is the time to
inundate them with demands, former prime minister Bob Hawke says.
Mr Hawke, at the Brisbane Writers' Festival, said Australia's political landscape
had been transformed in recent weeks.
"Never before, in any of our lifetimes, has the environment been better where
governments and political parties have to be so susceptible to public pressure," Mr
Hawke said.
"They will be listening to the electorate - how the electorate's thinking - in a way
they never have before.
"So I think, if I may say so, this is the time when (as) interest groups or
individuals, we ought to be inundating both sides of politics with a conviction of
the Australian people that they have to act in these areas."
The federal government remains in limbo as Labor and the Liberal/Nationals coalition
hold talks with independents in the wake of the tight August 21 poll result.
Mr Hawke was at the festival to discuss wife Blanche d'Alpuget's latest book, Hawke:
The Prime Minister.