So Australian politicians are getting their super reinstated after they were cut as a result of a popularist campaign in the last election apparently because otherwise they might be open to corruption or it just won’t attract the best and brightest.

It’s been well commentated that even with the huge monetary incentives, it didn’t attract a particularly high calibre, if the present cabinets and shadow cabinets are anything to go by. Instead it managed to attract plenty that were grimy, incompetant or just plain corrupt. Neither has there been any proof that corruption has been stemmed either in the job or reducing the need and numbers of golden parachutes (ie plum job offers from the private sector).

What hasn’t really been pointed out to any great extent, is that maybe lower super might get us more democratic politicians. In that without the HUGE security net of their grossly generous unemployment benefits, they might actually care a bit more about hanging onto their jobs so they may be forced to act in the interests of the electorates a little more rather than just listening and doing whatever the party demands. If all you need is one or two terms in government to set you up financially for life, what motivation is there for you to fight to stay there beyond that?

Anyway speaking of the proverbial bigger monkey. The Queensland Premier, Peter Beattie, on the eve of the state election said this:

“Germaine Greer is just wrong and I just can’t imagine anyone being more insensitive and, frankly, stupid,” he said. “This argument is just extreme radical rubbish from Germaine Greer and it couldn’t come at a more insensitive time… Mr Beattie said he wished he could triple the tax on Ms Greer’s Queensland rainforest property in retaliation to the comments. “We should double the taxation,” he said. “If I could do it I would double it or triple the taxation on it.”

Probably more worrying than the fact that a Premier admitting that he would use taxation as censorship if he could, was that there was no commentary or disapproval of his comments in the media whatsoever. Would it be the same overseas? I don’t know.

, ,