https://www.donotcall.gov.au/

 Unless you have a private number, I think they have it leglislated that government officials (ie politics) can call and are exempt from the do not call register.

And I bet they were from three different parties as well.

Wait until you get those ones from India.  Now they are a lot of fun....

 Have you tried the do not call register Bruce?

 Disconnect your home phone line.  We havent had a home phone now for seven years.  Never receive nuisance calls on the mobiles.

Play along for as long as possible...ask questions about their product and continually explain that you are very interested. Try to drag it out for 10 minutes or so. When they try to close the deal, ask if they will wait while you check with your wife quickly.

Put the phone down on the table, sit down and enjoy your dinner....they will hang up and get the message after 20 minutes or so.

I did this once and the calls stopped for a year or so.

We have a private home number, but as soon as I put it on the do not call register I started getting 'legit' survey calls. I will not use that service for a reason. Don't answer my mobile unless expecting a call or I know who the caller is. Quick reverse lookup for missed calls will confirm whether it is a telemarketer. If so, block the number in your phone.

 I looked at one of the insurance comparison website, that required me to put a contact number (mobile) in to be able to see results. Soon afterwards started receiving calls - from my experience, they will not take no for an answer. Declined an offer on first call, only for someone to ring me the next day offering same service. Eventually told them to PO. Result of that was they called more - sometimes 4 / 5 ti.es a day. Blocked the number on my mobile - they then call from different numbers. Happy to lead them on now and leave them hanging as above.

I don't mind my Indian friends calling me every afternoon, I record them and have a luagh afterwards:  https://soundcloud.com/user166993764/indian-phone-scammer

I'm with you buschy
I usually roll with 1or 2 different strategys to have fun with them depending on how busy I am

1st one is a sound all happy to talk with them ..then I ask them to just wait a min while turn the telly down . or take the roast out of the oven .anything really to get them to wait on the line ,,, then I just put the phone down and walk away , keep doing whatever I had been up to before they rang , they usually hang up pretty quick and don't call back

or I use a different voice and speak a few words of a foreign language to them & act dumb , [easily done for me lol ] ...same same , they don't hang around too long , frustrated they bugger off and I get a laugh out of it

3 rd one is when they ask how you are going or something similar ..... well I really , tell them every little detail about my day ...without letting them get a word in to sell whatever it is .again after 5 mins of one way boring convo they bugger off

nowdays we don't get too many lol

hezzy

telemarketer calls on my mobile (around 15-20 a week) all of them trying to get me to use the services of  a "financial advice/investment company based in the gold coast, they wouldnt stop calling about the same friggin thing and i just kept telling them to F-off. One day i got that pissed off i googled up the company and of course up came the face of the company owner with that classic "sleezy / creepy" salesman stare and grin and below was his email and mobile phone number. I emailed him a complaint about all the calls ive been getting and he emailed back basically  that i can like it orlump it coz it wasnt him calling it was the telemarket company he hired calling me which of course i knew. So i wrote down HIS mobile phone number on a card and kept it in my top pocket at all times. When the telemarketer rang again i made out like i was really interested and said i want to talk about it and can you ring me on my business mobile phone - I then gave them the prick company owners mobile number - felt great did it heaps of times  ha ha    

 I get heaps of them ringing and asking for the manager or owner, so I tell them he's on hols for 6 months :P Or I act as if I can't speak very good Engrish.

After a pertocularperticular bad day, I did  threaten modern group (solar, shutters ect) that if they ever called me again that I would come to their office and smash every computer. They have not called me since.

After removing the home phone, I get more from Telstra (mobiles with them) than anyone else.

 I have used the Seinfeld method to get rid of pesky callers:

Tell them you are busy now but if they give you their home phone number you will call the back later!

 Start talking to them about religion they usually bugger off pretty quickly

I got a new home phone that has calling number display, it doesn't stop the calls but at least I can screen them. If I don't know the number I won't answer and if the call is important they can leave a message. Over time the calls have reduced, I think by not picking up has helped.

I get none on my mobile, but I get a couple every now and then on my sat phone. Usually sat phone companies trying to sell plans to you.

 The best way i have found is to really abuse them and get as crude as you can they will hang up on you and then ad your number to their do not call list. And its a bit of fun while it lasts seeing how far you can go till they hang up.

Same as Mike does, abuse the crap out of them, their family, dogs, cats, future children, dead rellies and tell them that they are only trying to steal my money and that I have bugger all of that so piss off.
A couple have given it back as good as I have dished out, would loved to have taped them, they were real beauties.

 Learned to hard way not to answer survey's on the phone about general things...ended up getting plagued by financial advice companies. Told them politely where to go...then there was the Real Insurance tossers that would just not give up after repeated blockings. Haven't heard from them for a few months now. I always like to have a bit of fun with the callers claiming to be from Microsoft telling you about your infected computer. Gotten a few worked up by playing along as a complete idiot..."how do you turn on a computer??" that sort of stuff. Now my son gets in on the act if there ever is a call from these sorts on the landline. 

 Yeah lol windows yeah we got windows 5 in front of house 5 in back windows 10 right. Or a loud whistle whatever it takes gunna try beeroclocks method like that one. 

I was reading that one way to get rid of them is to tell the yoingsters in the house that Santa is on the phone and hand the phone to one of them.

Another is to ask for their credit card number so that they can be charged a minimum of 25 dollars for your time taken for the comng conversation.

I just swear and curse at the caller and tell them that I will have the poilice come and get them for malicious calls - did this to an Aust mob pretending to be from a large money recovery company who had the gall also to send me a demand through the Aust Post system.

 People still have landlines?

 Got a recorded message from some political person last night.  Came through as a provate number so i let it go through to message bank.  How much is that costing them (or us)?

 I usually play around with and go along with them or I say I'm busy driving atm so gota go 

more when at work they ask to speak to boss/manager I say there busy and they ask wats best time to call them back and I say on Sunday ( Sunday's were closed) and there just dumb founded and hang up