Appalling politicians

It's been bad enough having to pander to the Rev. Fred Nile for the past quarter-century. I believe his hard-line fundamentalist views are supported by only a minority of Christians – and a minuscule percentage of Australians at large – but since 1981 he has been a member of the Upper House of the New South Wales parliament, thanks to a preferential voting system.

For much of that time he has held the balance of power with his vote deciding the fate of legislation put forward by NSW State governments. To win that vote, governments have had to withhold many socially progressive measures supported by the general public.

The Rev. Fred is a bit of a worry. But worse is upon us – to get its legislation through parliament, the NSW Government now has to suck up to people who shoot animals for fun.

Here's the story from this morning's Sydney Morning Herald.

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Loathe him or love him, Senator Bob Brown gets responses

Surely this takes the prize for the nastiest letter to the editor this week. Published in today's Sydney Morning Herald, it drips with a sneering loathing for greenies generally, and Senator Brown in particular.

Perhaps letters editors should commission anti-tripe software, to screen out any submissions which say, “How silly of me,” along with those which start, “Is it only me, but . . ?” – terms which usually say the writers are pompous old gits.

This letter's writer appears not to have troubled himself to learn the facts behind Senator Brown's huge legal bill. Nor does he feel it matters that Brown undertook the legal actions not for his own benefit, but for what he perceived to the need to protect natural environment. And that his bankruptcy would rob the nation of a unique political leader.

But the letter writer needn't listen to a Grumpy Old Journo – if he flicks to the Opinion page right opposite his letter, he'll find the background fully explained. (He might have problems with the big words, however – Elizabeth Farrelly is erudite, and isn't shy in showing it. Even your GOJ had to look up guddling and manky.*)

And Elizabeth Farrelly says she loves Bob Brown. “Nothing personal. Never met the guy. But I love his articulate, undaunted, un-self-aggrandising and untiring defence of the planet.”

*Guddling: To try to catch fish by hand, esp. by groping under rocks or in murky water.

Manky: Inferior or unpleasantly dirty.
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