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March 21, 2005
the life and times of....
Tis a tabloid cartoon style that expresses Senator Ross Lightfoot's recent tabloid politics quite well:
The Senator's tabloid politics wears contradictions easily. Who cares about them? They are fictions are they not? Truth? Well, that is a matter of opinion, is it not? Lots more sensible comment over at DogfightAtBankstown, and Kick and Scream and Bartlett's Blog.
Woodside Petroleum for one cares. It would also be hard for those in the Liberal Party to have a good long laugh at the gun-totting Senator's acting out of a boys-own adventure fantasy in the dark world on the edges of western civilization.
The good Senator is one of those politicians who does not really understand Australian federalism. In his first speech in the Senate he says:
There are no practical limits to the legislature; it is ultimately all powerful, and should be so. Where constitutional limits as checks and balances do not evolve with the nation's aspirations, then referenda can be resorted to. Governments must not lose their nerve to the judiciary.
In his enthusiasms the sartorial Senator from WA seems to have forgotten about the little things, such as the rule of law, the limits placed on Parliament by the constitution, and the constitutional duty of the judiciary to uphold the Constitution. These little things suggest that in the last resort it is for the judiciary to determine the powers of the Parliament and of the executive.
In contrast, the honourable Senator from WA reckons that the foundation of our liberal political system is arbitrary political power. See why he is such an embarrrasment in the Senate?
Posted by Gary Sauer-Thompson at March 21, 2005 11:19 AM
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