There will be riots if four-year terms are introduced federally

Fixed parliamentary terms are good for politicians but no one else, says Paul Murray

THE current class of dumb politicians don’t deserve fouryear terms.

The idea has long been debated, but got a push this week when Labor Leader Bill Shorten gave his support.

Sadly, and stupidly, the Prime Minister was quick on the phone to say he might work with Shorten to make the idea come to fruition.

But let me make this nice and clear to anyone who backs this idea: we, the people, will never support it. We, the public, who pay for their gravy train, have no interest in adding an extra stop.

It should send a shiver up the spine of every thinking citizen that our political class is always quick to agree on rules that make life easier for them, while their full-time job is to create laws that make life harder for us.

These people just don’t get it. Trust in the political system has never been lower, the crossbench has never been wider and this idea is dead on arrival.

Others may have also wanted it at one time or another, but think about this: Howard didn’t need four-year terms, neither did Hawke or Keating.

Of course Shorten would love this idea, not for the country, but for him.

Remember the ALP leadership rules make it virtually impossible to kill a leader mid-term.

Four years as PM isn’t about stability, it’s about an extra $500,000 in the bank.

CHRISTMAS CARD BAN IS INSANE WHO is the genius in the Queensland education system who is going after kids giving Christmas cards in the playground?

Yes, this is the big problem that needs fixing.

Not the falling NAPLAN results, not the failure to teach the basics and not the endless failure to prepare students for the real world.

This is apparently all about stopping kids from trying to “convert’’ other kids to Christianity. What rubbish. I love the idea of kids giving their mates gifts, be it Christmas cards, Valentine’s cards or inviting their mates to end of Ramadan feasts.

It’s not about converting people to religion, it’s about building bonds with your mates.

It should concern all of us that the brass in the department can’t tell the difference between a Christmas card and a kid trying to radicalise others with a dark interpretation of the Koran.

I am an atheist, but I respect people with faith. Religion isn’t the enemy, fundamentalism and radicalisation is the main game.

LET PEOPLE WHO HAVE TWO JOBS KEEP THEIR OWN MONEY WHY do we still tax people with a second job at the top tax rate?

This week we learnt more than half a million people have more than one job.

For many, it’s the best way to keep flexible working relationships so they can take care of kids or slow down their working life.

But it seems strange to me that the tax system punishes these people, especially if you’ve got two jobs to make ends meet.

Now I know you get some of the money back at the end of the year, but why not give people their money when they earn it and not just at tax time?

At a point when all sides of politics are looking for easy wins, this is surely some low hanging fruit they can take care of.

It doesn’t cost the budget a cent as the money goes back in refund cheques.

Seems logical to me that people need all the cash they can to pay the bills, especially when they are working so hard to earn it. DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT BANNING MY PETROL-LOVING V8! FOR me, the biggest story of the week is one not too many people saw, but it’s going to have a huge impact on Australia.

The UK is banning the sale of petrol and diesel cars from 2040. Other European countries have made similar bans, but the UK is the largest one yet. The UK is one of the biggest markets in the world for right-hand drive cars and with Aussie car factories closing this year, this is going to bite.

We need these cars in Australia because of the huge distances we cover on the roads. There isn’t an electric car yet that can cover the distances, let alone only take five minutes at the servo to refuel.

This is one of those decisions that will be used by people to justify such a ban coming here. You can hear it, the rest of the world is moving from petrol to electric — so we should here. But good luck to any government stupid enough to take away the cars we want and need for this big beautiful country.

May I get a little Charlton Heston here? As a Holdenloving V8 owner, you can take the keys from my cold dead hand!

Monday’s guests include Graham Richardson, Janine Perrett and Ross Cameron.