Of course someone is better off; $100 million spent on community programs is bound to do some good. The problem is that the programs judged by unbiased public servants to be most in need were left worse off. Why? Not because they were not deserving enough – it was simply their misfortune to not be located in a marginal electorate targeted by the Coalition during the last election.

This goes a long way towards explaining the attitude of three regional mayors interviewed on ABC Radio National during last year’s federal election. Their common aim was to make their electorates as marginal as possible – just so that they might be noticed by the likes of McKenzie.

This is just one of the problems with corrupt politicians: they corrupt the electorate. Their dodgy behaviour distorts the judgment of citizens. They deploy power in ways that punish the virtuous and reward only those who play their game. We begin by being compromised and end up being complicit.

Of course, we could resist. We could stick to our principles. However, arguing that "virtue is its own reward" is not much comfort for those whose children miss out on vital sporting facilities simply because they don’t compute in the electoral maths of politicians like McKenzie.

And what of Bridget? Is she a bad person? Almost certainly not. Has she done much good for the community? Undoubtedly so. Are her underlying motives oriented towards the good of the nation? You bet! I suspect she is a wonderful person. That’s not the point. McKenzie has also shown herself to be an irresponsible minister who has done wrong and refuses to acknowledge this.

Fortunately, we have a Prime Minister who stood for office as a principled man. Hopefully, we can rely on him to uphold the conventions of ministerial responsibility – even when it is difficult or inconvenient to do so.

The honourable course of action would be for the minister to resign. However, if she fails to do so, then she should be dismissed by Scott Morrison.


Politicians volunteer for elected office on the understanding that they will serve the public interest first – not the private interests of political parties, donors, their mates and so on.

It’s a simple and obvious requirement. So, why is it so hard to find people with the moral courage to uphold this basic principle of liberal democracy?