“Katter repeatedly asks Ryan why she and her fellow teals left high-paying jobs for politics. It doesn’t seem to occur to him that they might have done so on principle.” Yes Agrippa, and there’s the reason the majors are in deep strife. There are now so few of the duopoly MP’s who are “there to make a difference”. The vast majority have “a career in politics” and their primary motivation as an MP is to build wealth. They toe the party line no matter how bad it is for the country or their constituents – keeping their pre-selections comes first. Well-informed voters have worked it out and the vibe is spreading. ALP and LNP are frogs in a pot on the stove and the temperature of the water is rising.

I’m engaged from start to finish;

I feel like I’m there in the car with you and Bob;

You’re so clear that following you is effortless;

You’re entertaining, interesting, smart and weaving in and out amongst the words is this wonderful use of humour, satire, irony, etc.

So glad you joined Crikey.

Agree 100%, Johan! And love your use of, “A very, very good call” to great effect.

The likes of Katter – defending Bjelke-Petersen, an abuser of power, overlord/godfather/king of corruption – says a lot about their sense of justice, who’s above it and not answerable to it.

If it wasn’t for National Party mole cum Joh devotee, Luke Shaw, Bjelke-Petersen would have done porridge.

Keep up the great work. I’ve loved reading these articles.

Sure Bob, time for your pills

Yeah, my torch would be lighting the pyre under him…

I’m not sure Joh was ever proven to be corrupt (he got that road made to his son’s property) and he certainly liked to employ people who were know to be corrupt (yes, you Terry as a start). And he survived only due to the Gerry Mander and handouts to farmers.

But compared to modern politicians, I don’t really think he made too much money from his clearly dodgy behavior. Compared to (enter the name of any ex Lib attached to the US or global armaments industry)

Qld was a different world. Clem Jones, the Brisbane Lord Mayor, never took a wage and brought Brisbane into the modern era, but Sally-Anne Atkinson once said there was a lot more going on. She didn’t elaborate. Audio clip somewhere on the web.