I find it hard to believe that Slipper could have been this silly. He must have known that his erstwhile colleagues would be looking for any excuse to publicly shame him — ideally something that wasn’t traceable back to them. being unprofessional in his dealings with someone would be fairly obvious and with the same sex attraction angle it was always going to be grist to the media mill — a feeding frenzy.

Whatever else I think of him, I don’t think an unremittingly personally unwise person can make it into politics and survive. One of your rivals will spear you long before that. So on balance, the most simple first guess is that this has to be a set up. Ashby implies he knew what he was getting himself into when he took the job. He says he stayed with Slipper of his own volition. He says he gave him a massage which is no part of any job description I’ve ever read for staffers. Why would he do that if not to create an impression that he was open to more than just being a staffer?

Just a reminder of the “He said, he said” from last year, when Tony Abbott claimed he was trying to get Slipper out of parliament

I wonder how long Abbott had been “trying to get Slipper out of Parliament” and what had motivated this desire. The obvious time would have been some time after he became leader. If he thought Slipper was unfit to serve then the question arises — why did he keep quiet? If he didn’t know then — he can’t have been reading his own side’s notes. When did he find out, what did he find out and what did he do about it?

Us curious folk want to know.

It seems clear to me that if Slipper can refute the claim that he handed over signed but blank cabcharge documents, then a serious question arises about what else we can believe about Ashby’s claims. In those circumstances, unless there is some other corroboration, it’s hard to see how they could be upheld. If they are not, then this begins to smell very much like GG all over again.

Bushfire Bill
Posted Monday, April 23, 2012 at 11:37 am | Permalink

This is “it”???

“Sexual harassment”?

This piece of fluff?

Courtesy of the SMH’s reporter, Louise Hall.

As Peggy Lee once sang: Is that all there is?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe9kKf7SHco

Sounds like the civil case won’t have much more substance than the criminal allegation.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/abbott-offered-backing-says-renegade-speaker-20111203-1ocky.html

Oh dear! Slipper hits back.

Don

In Adelaide, these car chases tend to happen on the same streets most times. They should set up a gizmo so the police can trigger spikes to pop up from the road surface to puncture the tyres.

Couldn’t agree more.

You’d need to be sure the next car along was the one you wanted, though!

I have what may be a dumb question, but that hasn’t stopped me before:

If the tyres are shot out or shredded by the gizmo, how far can a car continue to be driven, albeit with a fair bit of noise from the crinkling rims?

http://www.theage.com.au/national/abbott-offered-backing-says-renegade-speaker-20111203-1ocky.html

http://www.theage.com.au/national/abbott-offered-backing-says-renegade-speaker-20111203-1ocky.html

Just a reminder of the “He said, he said” from last year, when Tony Abbott claimed he was trying to get Slipper out of parliament, whilst Slipper said, in fact, they had a meeting at which Abbott offered support.

Had a laugh reading that, especially in light of what happened to Peter Reith. One might say Mr Rabbott has form in this area …

Thornleigh Labor Man
Posted Monday, April 23, 2012 at 10:09 am | Permalink

Oakeshott & Windsor are hanging on for dear life to Gillard, because they know that they’ll be the first casulties if there’s an early election.
Those two are more about their own self interest than ideals.

Oh FFS! You really wouldn’t know political integrity if it hit you over the head!

Those two have set an example to the rest of the country and have done more for regional Australia in two years than the Nationals have done in the last twenty years.

What have you got against them anyway? That they allowed Gillard to form a government? Does your quest for vengeance know no bounds?