Fundamental institutions are cast aside in the pursuit of raw power

"THE presumption of innocence until proven guilty is a foundation of our democracy. There are investigations underway that need to be allowed to take place and resolved, and those resolutions will determine whether Parliament has a role to play in this matter.

It is a very dangerous precedent for Parliament to call a member to explain allegations made against them, before proper process and natural justice have reached their conclusions, as this would blur the line between our parliamentary and judicial systems."

Rob Oakeshott, MP (Ind)

The Craig Thompson scandal that has engulfed parliament this week has once again shown that the Liberals are prepared to do anything, including breaking political convention and undermining our system of justice, to gain power. It has been a raw and grubby affair, particularly since the scandal itself is so salacious.

The quote above from independent MP, Rob Oakeshott highlights the issues that seem to have been forgotten in the Opposition's headlong grab for power; that everyone, regardless of what they are alleged to have done, is entitled to a presumption of innocence and that it is the courts and not the parliament or the media that are the ultimate arbiters of innocence or guilt. However, the opposition is happy to cast aside all those principles in its relentless drive for power.

It is ironic that convention and tradition have been cast aside by the so-called conservatives, now fully re-casting themselves not as a conservative or even liberal party but a radical neo-con machine focused purely on the obtaining and holding of power at whatever cost.

And they say the ALP has lost its values.....