Political expenses rorts reveal a deeper malaise
The state Treasurer's insistence that we "should not have to regulate for common sense" is a nice sentiment, but recent history would suggest otherwise.
Josh Gordon is The Age's state political editor. After a brief period in the Sydney banking world and the federal bureaucracy, Josh spent six years working as The Age's economics correspondent at Parliament House in Canberra. After cutting himself adrift to travel the world, he was lured back to reporting early in 2007. Most recently he has worked as The Sunday Age's politcal editor, based in Canberra, and The Age's state economics correspondent in Melbourne.
The state Treasurer's insistence that we "should not have to regulate for common sense" is a nice sentiment, but recent history would suggest otherwise.
It took a few days, but Daniel Andrews has now acknowledged the deep sense of anger over the liberties some MPs take with the public's money.
Daniel Andrews' piety over the Geoff Shaw expense scandal in 2014 has been replaced with blandness, now that Labor house speaker Telmo Languiller has been caught out.
Labor would have learnt from bitter experience that letting expense troubles fester by insisting a claim is "within the rules" is a recipe for disaster.
If the Andrews government has a political motto it is this: "we are not going to die wondering".
Victorian households are being buffeted by something of a perfect storm when it comes to power bills.
And now for the hard part.
Daniel Andrews has, at least, spent much of the past four years flogging his 'lefty' agenda, providing a partial antidote to the Greens in the inner city.
Both sides have lessons they can glean from the federal campaign.
On Tuesday Matthew Guy used the legal cover of State Parliament to air an unsubstantiated rumour doing the rounds.
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