Triple-M By-Election Hijinks

Well, it's now only a week away from the Triple-M By-Elections - Marrickville, Maroubra and Macquarie Fields.

- Last night's Stateline gave the lowdown on the Macquarie Fields election, the high point being Nola Fraser being introduced to local commuters as `Nola Fraser The Whistleblower Nurse' (sounded a little bit like Cherry Ames, Frontier Psychiatrist or Julia Longbottom, Girl Detective), the low point being the fact that Labor candidate Steve Chaytor is apparently a robot programmed by a greeting card company.

- Meanwhile in Marrickville, despite being credited with an above average chance of winning the seat, the Greens seem determined not to release any policies or alternatives, instead concentrating on the time honoured method of the big sook. Send the government a message! We're not going to take it! And ... um ... we're really cranky!

- Finally, in Maroubra, after an, ahem, spirited pre-selection battle comprising several of the local figures whose noses were knocked out of joint by the N40ing of Peter Garrett into Laurie Brereton's old seat of Kingsford Smith, things seem to be proceeding extremely quietly and without incident (not surprising, given the lack of Greens and Liberal side shows).

Will the by-elections really be the baptism of fire for the Iemma Government? Yes and no. Let's not forget - no matter how much the NSW Opposition argue that Iemma was a minister for seven years so played some major role in whatever state it's in now, NSW has been Carr's World for nine years. His autocracy was famous.

Maroubra may as well be written off right now - unless there's a late resurgence from the Fishing Party or the Christian Democrats, it's barely worth calling a contest. Macquarie Fields is of course the only seat in which the governing party and their opposition are both contesting candidates, and it is in the swing the party wins there that could be the most crucial in judging the future prospects of the NSW Labor government - far less so than Marrickville which, even despite its greater susceptibility to falling out of government hands (something I suspect it won't do - similar suggestions of a `Greenwash' of inner city Labor held seats during the Federal election did not eventuate), is not demographically representative of the greater majority of NSW seats.

Ah, don't you love an election?