Claimants’ conga line

who is trying to slime their way out of what. It would have been easy for him to blame this ethical train wreck on the politicians of the time, or wholly on public servants, but Rick has painted all of the characters in all of their abysmal glory. For the many hours that Rick has spent listening, researching and writing a record of this post-mortem into what is surely one of the worst episodes in public policy for decades, we are all indebted.

– Jack Bowers, Downer, ACT

Martin Mckenzie-murray (“The depressed wing”, March 11-17) depicts the clash of youthful ideals and harsh reality in the cauldron of federal politics. Sally Rugg’s dispute, should she continue to pursue it, will seek clarification of what constitutes reasonable or unreasonable working hours. It may also clarify whether there is an absolute standard for “reasonableness”, or whether that is a notion to be assessed in the context of the particular role at the particular time. This dispute will have to be resolved in court because, were the government to fund an out-of-court settlement, that would surely invite a conga line of claimants burnt out from other staffer positions. The demands on staffers are clearly extreme; improvement to working conditions looks well overdue. Sadly this dispute will be distracting Monique Ryan’s already overburdened policy team. So far, the only winner from this case is Josh Frydenberg. – Chris Young, Surrey Hills, Vic this article, is helping to correct the lack of understanding of many good people in our community. Please continue your good work. – Carol Bolton, Claremont, WA