An ABC of failed premiers
Sep 10th, 2008 | By David Harper | Category: OpinionTerry Barnes: In The Australian yesterday, Christian Kerr fumed that “hacks, flacks and apparatchiks” are taking over parliament. He pointed out that the successful candidates in last Saturday’s federal by-elections, Rob Oakeshott and Jamie Briggs, were former government staffers, and that the recent intake of new senators is dominated by former political staff, party officials and trade unionists.
An ex-staffer himself, Kerr implied that this is part of a rise of a self-referential permanent political class disconnected from the realities of everyday life. The truth of this no doubt is hotly debated over the chardonnay in parliamentary dining rooms across Australia.