Labor & Shooters! I Almost Choked on My Weeties!

This morning I nearly choked to death with laughter as I had my Weet-Bix stuck in my throat. I saw the Sydney Morning Herald's article about The Shooters Party. Labor doesn't get it! If you support the boys with guns you'll alienate the community that supports conservation, ecology, and preserving animals (The Green vote). If you support The Green-style vote (which you should) then the loony-bin brigade will rally to put yet another Shooter in Parliament in 2011.

This lot of Labor don't have even the barbed-wire nous of an ultra conservative like Tony Abbott who effectively knocked One Nation off its perch.

And when will journalists turn the spotlight on the cause of the deadlock in Parliament? Why were The Shooters put off-side? It was Attorney General Hatzistergos' rabid lobbying in late June to push through the ridiculous merger of the Protective Commissioner. The public didn't want it. The disability advocates didn't want it. But Mr Hatzistergos and his off-kick Glanfield dug their heels in. They ran amok among the minor parties looking for support. The Greens said "ok" but Labor had to kick The Shooters. So, remember that the Attorney General, first-law officer of the state helped to stuff his own party's prospects of pushing through any more bills in the Legislative Council.

What has Labor done since the recess in June and the re-opening on Tuesday? Oh the de facto Premier Wedderburn tried to offer a lamb chop to The Shooters but the doggies wouldn't bite! So look at the "better service" delivery NSW is now receiving from Labor. It is surreal!

Della Bosca Resigned. Another One Bites The Dust

So Mr Della Bosca's ambitions to be Premier are well and truly over! Like so many living in the world of politics in Macquarie Street, it seems he was losing the plot about his life. The scandal that has engulfed his life and career is nothing new in NSW politics.

The NSW Health portfolio will now require yet another ministerial appointment, a certain kiss of death to whoever takes it on. Since 2005 we have had Hatzistergos, Meagher, and Della Bosca - not an awe-inspiring cast. Meagher left Parliament a year ago; Della Bosca will languish in obscurity and will surely be finished; and only Hatzistergos remains with his hands on industrial relations and law.

Another Lame Duck Premier About To Depart

Yes, it is just a mere formality before Nathan Rees ceases to be Premier of NSW and a new marionette show orchestrated from the right-wing faction of the ALP begins. The choice of a woman - Kristina Keneally or Carmel Tebbutt - will be a change of puppet for sure. But the lads in Sussex Street miss the point: we are not fooled by the attempt to imitate Queensland with Anna Bligh.

As the Upper House relationship between the ALP and the Shooters Party remains at a stalemate the prospect of a hung Parliament needing to be dissolved for an election looms large.

The members of Cabinet should be asking themselves how did they end up in this mess. All they have to do is think back to the absurd lobbying of Laurie Glanfield and John Hatzistergos over the merger of the Protective Commissioner and Public Trustee in June. They secured the passage for that via wooing The Greens in exchange for stuffing up The Shooter's bill on bang-bangs in National Parks. If Glanfield and Hatzistergos had not been so adamant about pushing through on that issue then maybe Labor would still have The Shooters onside. Now they don't and it is impossible to govern the state without at least 3 secure votes from minor parties.

NSW Director of Public Prosecutions

Give Mr Cowdery the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions a cigar! He has the guts to stand up to the crap dished out by the NSW Labor Government and the NSW Attorney General John Hatzistergos.

Poly-Filler Pasting Over NSW Govt Cracks

The pounding hooves of the horses of doom are approaching as Premier Rees is shown yet again to be a marionette. He faces:

1). The plots of John Della Bosca eyeing off the purple mantle of the Premier's job, and of course there are the usual media denials from Della Bosca (which is the script challengers recite when planning the Ides of March).

2). The stalemate over regaining the support of The Shooters Party in the Legislative Council which was caused by the determined and stubborn lobbying activities of the NSW Attorney General John Hatzistergos and Mr Laurie Glanfield the Director General of the Attorney General's Department in June 2009 in pushing through - come hell or highwater - the NSW Trustee and Guardian Bill. The Government did a deal with The Greens on that Bill, and in return Labor dudded The Shooters Party's bill about shooting in national parks. This has led to stalemate over the sale of NSW Lotteries (so essential so the Treasurer Eric Roozendaal claims to making the budget work).

3). The revolt of 8 Labor MPs over the privatisation of prisons.

4). The rearranging of deck chairs to dampen down dissent from Rural Fire Services over the Super Department scheme.

Full steam ahead as we hit the iceberg!

Daily Telegraph on Case Chaos at New Trustee and Guardian

Gemma Jones serves up a concise piece on funds mismanagement and clumsy ham-fisted handling of protected estates clients by the Protective Commisisoner's successor the NSW Trustee and Guardian. While that kind of work is always fraught with problems, the snap shot in the article just emphasises what a mess is the entire Attorney General's Department. Both the minister Mr John Hatzistergos and the department's Director General Mr Laurie Glanfield need to be hauled before an inquiry to justify why they should be allowed to continue in their jobs.

And don't overlook the farcical handling of the current Parliamentary Inquiry into substitute decision making as it affects the NSW Trustee and Guardian (see here). Both the Minister and Director General should be cross-examined on several critical concerns particularly why they dragged their feet since 2004 in introducing any reforms to the Protected Estates Act.