Events in Canberra this week underline the issue that gets people so cynical about politicians, namely politics.
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Theyre here to do a job. But unfortunately its on each other. Stuff the country.
Was a leadership spill that urgent in the minds of Australians this week, or any other?
Queensland lost State of Origin this year, yes, but throwing Peter Dutton into the mix always seems a bit extreme.
Rumours midweek suggested all this momentum for change was fake news.
Kind of believable given how incredibly unpopular Mr Potato Head seems to be with just about everyone.
Soon, however, the momentum had momentum and everyone was putting their hand up for a crack. Not sure anyone warms to Scott Morrison and Ms Bishop either. But when its on, its stacks on.
Malcolm didnt have any loyalty, except that pledged to him by senior ministers. A bit like getting the total backing of the club when youre an NRL coach. Made you wonder, who was driving the bus, and where was it heading. Over a cliff?
The Libs are still in power, remember. The economy is going OK. No one is talking about inflation or unemployment except in terms of making Mal unemployed. And Mal seemed such a preferable PM compared to his rival in opposition despite the newspolls.
Opposition now seems like where Mal and his rivals in government are destined. And youve got to ask yourself, was that really the plan?
Yes electricity prices are high, but Mal was trying to do something about it amid the wrecking, although insisting on tax breaks for the banks during a royal commission probably wasnt the thing.
Ultimately, energy policy energised his enemies who showed that just like loyalty, theres no guarantees in power.
The latest putsch seems like the most suicidal election move since Gillard v Rudd v Gillard v anyone else Shorten didnt like.
The Labor Party will be hoping the public dont dwell on that because it only seems like last bye-election they were thinking of doing the same thing again, with Albo.
All Bill Shorten has to do now is keep his lame zingers in the holster until after the polls and the Libs will be rewarded with oblivion.
Resigning Liberal front bencher Concetta Fierravanti-Wells said on Wednesday her partys leadership crisis represented a problem with the countrys soul. The traditional Liberal Party under Turnbull, she said, had lost the plot over things like same sex, climate change and the republic.
It was time, apparently, to move forwards by lurching backwards. For this conservative party riddled with such disconnect and division, that should be a formality.
Round four of knife our PM in the back gets you wondering who the bloody hell pays for all this. Oh, thats right, us.
If the true measure of political integrity is exiling your party to opposition, then the next Liberal team will have it in spades.
Handy, really, because theyll need something to bury the dead.
