STATE’S MPS ARE THE REAL WRONG ’UNS
WE’VE got it the wrong way round when we punish cheating cricketers much more severely than we punish our cheating politicians.
Test captain Steve Smith is just 28, but has lost his job, his reputation, his livelihood, and millions of dollar in sponsorships for turning a blind eye to a plot to tamper with a ball.
But in Victoria, for instance, cheating politicians are shameless.
The contrast is sick, and Good Friday just made it worse.
Two Christians in the Liberal party cheated on that very day — the day after Smith’s teary “sorry” to the nation — and with God on their lips.
Both Craig Ondarchie and Bernie Finn said they could not possibly be in parliament on Christianity’s most sacred day, and had to be excused.
“This is the day that my Lord was crucified,” said Ondarchie.
“I want to be right now with my church family.”
Finn was just as unctuous: “Merely by being here is making me feel ill.”
At their request, Labor agreed to give both a “pair” — that is, two Labor MPs would also be excused from parliament, so neither side would get an advantage in a vote.
But Ondarchie and Finn cheated. With their Labor “pairs” gone, they hid until a vote was called on legislation the Liberals were desperate to stop: a pro-union Bill that would weaken the volunteer Country Fire Authority.
Then out the hypocrites sprang, to narrowly vote it down.
What a dirty cheat. Mind you, these men are in a parliament full of cheats. Is Victoria now home to the country’s dirtiest politicians?
The Andrews Government had cheated by calling on this Good Friday vote, knowing that one opponent of their Bill, Australian Conservatives MP Rachel Carling-Jenkins, was in hospital, without the benefit of a “pair”.
And don’t forget the cheat who’s Premier. Daniel Andrews had 21 Labor politicians falsely claim taxpayers’ money for “electorate” workers, who worked instead on Labor’s election campaign in 2015.
Taxpayers were cheated out of $388,000, and Labor spent up to $1 million more to stop the Ombudsman from exposing the rort. Only after the Ombudsman blew the whistle did Labor repay the $388,000 — but not the legal costs. And not one MP has been punished.
That’s just Victoria. So every time you read another piece about our cheating cricketers, ask this: why aren’t our cheating politicians punished half as roughly?