What about us?

Our local member and Deputy Prime Minister is so popular among his cabinet colleagues they have assigned him to Queensland for the duration.

Forget about the electorate Mark Vaile represents, his Liberal bosses are more concerned that his services are more needed up north to save their skins.

Vaile has overridden his National members, denying that they might be disappointed by the placing of two Queensland Liberal senators ahead of National’s Senator Boswell. That action alone displays as much loyalty to his party as he shows for his local electorate.

“The decision we’ve taken in Queensland is to try and target all of our resources on beating the Labor party,” Vaile said. Perhaps we could have more confidence in this underperformer if he concentrated on voter’s needs and his electorate, rather than the Liberal Party’s fears of defeat.

Of course Vaile can afford to be complacent in Lyne; like his two predecessors he has never faced any threat here. Perhaps it is time he really did, time someone took up the challenge to represent this electorate as it really deserves to be represented.