Stop playing the man in public debate

There is a nasty, spiteful element starting to intrude on the discourse of this great nation

A BIG red line was crossed this week by “protesters” in Melbourne who threw paint at the Lord Mayor’s house following the council’s decision to move homeless people away from the area near Flinders Street station.

It is the second time they have attacked his home. This is beyond just “not on”. Targeting the homes of public figures is never acceptable and should be met with a serious response by police and condemned by anyone who cares about a civil society. Sadly, it is not just the physical attacks that go way too far.

You do not have to dig that deep into the internet to find people trying to work out where public figures live with the express purpose of threatening them.

True, in public life, when you lead with your chin someone is going to take the metaphoric swing at it.

But family is off-limits. Sure, play the ball hard, but not the man or woman trying their best to make our country a better place.

And in yet another example of one rule for Canberra and another for the rest of us, how is it legal that a serving politician can take money from anyone but the public while they are in office?

This week we learnt that the former, and very effective, small business minister Bruce Bilson was paid by the “Franchise Council” while he was still a member of parliament.

He has since gone on to work for them in his postpolitics life.

Amazingly, the reaction of the major political parties was not to close this loophole, but only to say it was regrettable.

We have strict rules that cover dual citizenship and making extra money off the Commonwealth that have seen senators lose their jobs because that activity gives the perception of divided loyalties.

Surely getting paid by a lobby group while you are an MP is worse than either of these simple “mistakes”?

But when the club sees no urgency to change this system our ever-shrinking faith in politics falls even lower.

On the other issue that has hijacked political debate and the public discourse, stop complaining and just let the people have their say on same-sex marriage.

Lefties need to stop their whingeing about the same-sex marriage plebiscite and just convince people to vote yes or no. The press gallery lost its collective mind when the