David Campbell should not have resigned from the NSW cabinet for entirely personal behaviour, that was – as far as anyone can establish – neither illegal nor exploitative.

He had lost interest in, or focus on, his job as Minister for Transport, but his performance was no worse than that of the government as a whole. His second life as a gay man had no bearing on his public duties.

David Campbell Credit:Jon Reid

Of course, if Campbell had been a stellar minister – instead of an affable journeyman of politics – and if he were serving in a good government, he may have been able to survive with the perfectly reasonable argument that he had committed no offence, other than the private pain to his wife and family.

Once again, we have seen a political career end in a scandal that is manufactured by the media, based on a series of so-far thin justifications.