`Unworthy and Unfit to Continue'

This post is worthwhile simply to ensure that the following hilarious picture receives the wide exposure it so richly deserves. Yes, the Costello smirk has been part of our political landscape for longer than we might have thought.

However, given the shenanigans of the past week, it's interesting to look a little further in to the, erm, `illustrious' career of Patrick Costello, the great-great grandfather of Peter Costello, who, in 1861, achieved the dubious distinction of being the first politician ever to be thrown out of an Australian parliament, only three months after his election.

Costello, an Irish Catholic immigrant, was the owner of two pubs before beginning his political career at Melbourne City Council in 1855 and later becoming a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. Here is where it gets interesting. During the election for the seat of Mornington, Costello secretly organised for a number of foreigners to be brought in via steamship to take on the identities of deceased voters in the electorate. He was jailed for approximately four months.

To quote a 2003 NSW Government report on the history of the expulsion of members:

[The grounds were] electoral fraud (specifically the misdemeanour of ‘ personation’). Although a jury had found Costello guilty, technically his expulsion occurred before the Supreme Court had delivered its final decision. That was a matter of some concern to several Members who spoke to the resolution. After a lengthy debate, however, the resolution to expel Costello, as ‘unworthy and unfit to continue as a member of this House’, was carried without a division.

If only it were so easy, thinks Howard ...