Now It's Goward for Goulburn

Peter Debnam's - and, we would assume, the Prime Minister's - preferred candidate for the seat of Epping, Pru Goward, has lost this weekend's preselection to the Right's preferred candidate, Deputy DPP Greg Smith. However, it does look like Goward will get a seat after all, having been offered the new seat of Goulburn (formerly Southern Highlands) with the retirement of Peta Seaton.

I might add that it's a bit rich for Peter Debnam to be claiming that the Liberal Party, unlike the Labor Party, don't `plonk their mates into seats', when this is the second (or, if rumours are to be believed, the third) attempt to shoehorn Goward into the parliamentary party.

So too is State Political Antagonist Alex Mitchell's column in the Sun-Herald this morning, which suggests that giving Goward the Goulburn option was some sort of political masterstroke. It was nothing of the sort. The idea of denying the power of the far Right in the State Opposition - even against their party's own leader - is not only ludicrous, and not only pretty pathetic coming from someone who claims to be an expert, but it's actually dangerous, as it lets the grubs think they've gotten away with it.