PerthNorg

Buswell thought about resigning

Resign? Where did he get an idea like THAT from?

The unanswered questions are these: “when he sniffed the chair, did it get a laugh?”, and "did any of the men present complain to Buswell that the joke was in poor taste?" If they laughed and didn't complain, they are as sleazy as Troy and their electability should be questioned, right? Are they implicated by laughing?

I think the media is right to bring this matter in to the open but the consequences would seem to be these:

1. It will become even harder to attract good people to politics. The knowledge that your every behaviour and even your jokes will be subject to public scrutiny will limit the talent pool even more severely than in the past.

2. Political gatherings will become more formal and alcohol intake will be strictly controlled. Politicians will become more like priests; isolated from the community with special sets of moral obligations imposed on them. I think you have to wonder whether such a model is a proved success.

Nonetheless, politicians who make jokes at the expense of other people in public (with sexual innuendo or whatever) are not suitable candidates for public life.  Decisions about what is correct behaviour in a public context is an acid test of the discernment of a leader.

Buswell's idea that he can continue on in the job regardless is proof of a continuing lack of discernment.