Pollies have one job

OUR state politicians might think they have a lot on their plate — a lot of policy and strategic tasks to juggle.

But they really have one job: to deliver for the people who elected them.

If they remembered this guiding principle, instead of being distracted by the lure of party games, then not only would they achieve more, the public would have a lot more respect for them and greater faith in the system.

There are only three more sitting days of Parliament before it sits no more ahead of the November state election.

That means there is a limited opportunity for current Bills before the house — as it is now made up — to be passed.

Anything could happen at the election: voters could choose to turf the Andrews Government and replace it with Matthew Guy and the Liberals. Or we could wake up in the days after November 24 with a minority government in which the Greens are key stakeholders.

Whatever the case, this term of government has just a few days to go. And there are important Bills that could make a difference to the lives of real people that, at the time of writing last night, still had not passed.

These include laws that could more strictly punish those who attack paramedics, laws to ensure revenue such as that from speeding fines go back into roads and road safety, and Rory’s Law.

Instead, this week Labor and Liberal have been calling each other “grubs” and “sooks” and engaging in mudslinging, spin and petty pointscoring.

Mr Guy has been caught apparently wasting public money on an effort to save his political skin. Mr Andrews has been caught recklessly exposing people’s private details.

Both men say the other should resign. And on this, both may well be right. Our MPs on all sides need to remember they are public servants, they are not rock stars.

If they acted at all times as though the public was watching, they might get their real job done, and be appreciated by the public for doing so.