Rats desert the sinking ship

Party's over, time to take a powder

'"BUMP me into Parliament, Bounce me any way you want. Bung me into Parliament, on next election day."

Bill Casey, reputed author of the above chorus from a famous old Wobblies song, had the current crop of time-servers in the NSW Labor Party down pat.

Bumped into Parliament, they have squandered the rivers of revenue flowing from the Federal Government's GST torrent and mercilessly gouged state taxpayers while displaying shameless indifference to the bread-and-butter issues ö health, transport and education ö which affect every resident of the state.

Having suckered the long-suffering citizens for 10 years, the principal rats are jostling for the exit and sticking their consbreastuents with the bill for not one, not two, but three ö and possibly more ö by-elections in their arrogant and indecent haste to desert Macquarie St's Cowards' Castle.

The Wobblies, the International Workers of the World, had a pretty cynical view of their parliamentary cousins, totally supported and justified by the events of the past week.

There may be a slim case to be made for a leader to exit Parliament at the time of his choosing ö to clear the decks and remove a possible source of distraction and conflict from the parliamentary bear-pit ö but there is absolutely no excuse for others to take former premier Bob Carr's departure as a signal to reject the voters they swore to serve.

Yet, former deputy premier, former health minister, former Aboriginal affairs minister and one-Budget former treasurer Andrew Refshauge, a man of the Left who has flaunted smug caring, sharing credentials totally ineffectually in Aboriginal affairs, decided to pack it in after being told he would be ditched as treasurer.

Craig Knowles, former health and former housing minister, is also taking a powder.

Neither Refshauge nor Knowles were big contributors and it is unlikely that their faceless successors will do any better. Little wonder that Carr was chortling as he left the governor's mansion yesterday.

Their hasty departures just 20 months before the March 24, 2007, state election are arrogant, petulant and at bottom, represent a dereliction of duty to voters and taxpayers and smack of the same sort of disdain for punters as did former federal Opposition leader Mark Latham when he turned his back on the electorate and his party after being soundly thrashed in last year's election.

They may not have been offered the slots they coveted but life (outside Parliament) is not always easy.

Those who don't have gold pbuttes or access to a fleet of white automobiles, who aren't looking forward to gorging themselves on excessive superannuation bankrolled by the working public, manage ö in the main ö to soldier on.

The by-elections in Maroubra, Marrickville and Macquarie Fields will cost the people of NSW between $600,000 and $750,000, depending on whether Speaker John Aquilina issues writs for the same day.

He's unlikely to do that until September 13, when the Legislative buttembly is due to sit again. No sitting days are scheduled for August but the cheques will still go out.

The suggestion from reader Graeme Clark on today's Letters Page that silly and costly by-elections might be halted if seats vacated for frivolous reasons were pbutted to the candidate who won the second highest number of votes, might bring an end to these self-conceited displays.

It would certainly give pause for second thoughts.

Premier Morris Iemma looks like a patsy as he launches his new administration with such a display of profligate indulgence. His Government is on the nose before it gets a chance to get into gear.

Such contempt for the voters doesn't augur well for his future. The history of premiers who have been left holding the battered baby by rapidly departing predecessors isn't great.

In the past two decades we have seen such leaders of last resort dumped at the first opportunity by voters in almost every state, from Western Australia's Carmen Lawrence, to South Australia's Lynne Arnold, to Victoria's Joan Kirner and Queensland's Mike Ahern. All ousted by angry electors at the very first chance.

Morris Iemma, take note.

As premier, Carr was scathing about the lack of talent displayed by his parliamentary colleagues. His considerable media skills managed, however, to deflect a lot of the criticism his government deserved.

Iemma was barely a blip on the Carr government radar and has not yet shown any qualities which explain why he is now premier of the great state of NSW, beyond being the factional choice.

His first major policy decision, the removal of the Carr government's ill-advised vendor tax, demonstrates the appalling lack of foresight that saw it insbreastuted in the first place.

The political chorus that began this column deserves another to finish, in keeping with the selfish atbreastudes of those bludging on the public purse.

It begins: "The working clbutt can kiss my arse, I've got the foreman's premier's job at last" and it is dedicated to all those playing fast and loose with public funds in Macquarie St.

Sydney Telegraph