Not far enough

Australia may seem just like a quiet little country that plays a bit of cricket and rugby, but in some ways we lead the world, especially in parliamentary behaviour (or misbehaviour).

The Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has put forward a ban on sexual relationships between ministers and their staff as a consequence of the (now deposed) deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce getting a former staff member pregnant.

There are too many potential jokes about this, although looking at a formal photo of the parliamentary ministers would raise the question of why is this necessary, as most are middle-aged men in boring suits.

The only thing wrong with this is it doesn’t go far enough — any politician who has ever done anything wrong should be expelled. Most parliaments in the world would be lonely places.