Phillip - while I agree politicians need to be paid a reasonable amount, I think you're wrong to assume that more money will automatically attract a better calibre of leader.

Money is one thing, but power is another. There is also the issue of what is the right reason to get into politics. It should always be to represent your electorate.

Increasing the wages of politicians won't really do anything to address the problems that the author has highlighted.

Something really has to be done about campaign financing - I'm not sure precisely what it is yet, but private donations are not the way to go. It is downright naive to assume that fund contributions are given simply as a gesture of goodwill - they expect something in return.

I suppose all the political mud-slinging has one unintended benefit for the public. With the mud, occasionally the worst of the corrupt politicians get flushed out into the street.

Senator Santoro has just resigned - the heat from blowtorch of truth finally became unbearable. You'll remember that, after being appointed to his health-related portfolio in 2006, Santoro failed to immediately sell off stocks in a biotechnology company about which he made official decisions - without declaring an interest.

Prime Minister Howard earlier this week refused to sack the Senator, saying he had alerted him as soon as the error was realised, and that he had donated the profit from the shares to a 'charity'. Unfortunately for the Howard Government, that charity has now been revealed to be not a charity but a conservative values group, Family Council of Queensland. The hypocrisy is stunning.

Its president, Alan Baxter, was the person who 'sold' the shares to Senator Santoro in the first place.

We desperately need Senator Murray's Bill to be enacted; but even after this scandal - perhaps because of it - the Bill has Buckley's chance of finding the support it needs from the Big Boys.

People get the governments they deserve. Clearly, if people didn't want corrupt politicians, they wouldn't keep voting for a (major) party machine. Yet most people do, so what does that say about the populace? It's too easy to make excuses for the populace and say they've been lied to, or the information hasn't been provided. Some information is available, but people are too lazy to go and get it. Some information isn't available, but people are too lazy to demand it or threaten to vote for someone else or stop financially supporting the media. So, why should anyone expect politicians or the media to treat people as anything but lazy, stupid fools only too willing to be taken for a ride? I'm not absolving politicians or the media here, but if you put your left hand into a wolf's mouth and had it bitten off, would you put your right hand in next? Evidently, if you're an Australian voter, the answer is a resounding "YES"!

The investigations into WA Inc. cost the taxpayers some $30 million. The recent revelations from the Corruption and Crime Commission will cost us more than that and unbelievably, the same players, Burke and Grill still up to their mischief, 20 years hence.

These lobbyists' tentacles have invaded every conceivable industry in WA and beyond, to the detriment of the constituents.

When you have heads of the EPA and the Departments of Environment colluding with lobbyists of ill-repute, then one realises that nothing is sacred. How can ethical bureaucrats be lobbied on environmental assessments?

However, the EPA's assessments which were made to curb carbon emissions were ignored by Ministers on two large coal projects last year and given approval to proceed without the EPA's recommended environmental restrictions.

The plight of communities, force-fed vile chemicals from the shabby hazardous waste industry was ignored. Same lobbyists, same outcome.

WA is terminally ill and the collusive business community, devoid of integrity, is also culpable and should hang their heads in shame.

New strategies will be implemented to override transparency in bribes and donations. The impotent few who do protest will again be ridiculed and the thugs will continue on the gravy train, under the guise of "economic progress" - well for the "privileged" few anyway!

This sinister mix between money and politics has been the undoing of democracy around the world.

It runs far deeper than just issues with donations to political parties - to the very connection between the rich, powerful, profit-motive-above-all-else people and the decision-makers in government. It means that governments don’t make independent decisions. It skittles the fundamental purpose of governments.

It is basically the reason why we are told that we have to keep on growing with no end in sight, and with scant thought of the finite and stressed nature of the systems that are supposed to support this ever-bigger extent of humanity.

Because we are so powerfully told this lie – that we’ve gotta have growth or else we’ll all be rooned – the majority of the community goes along with it…..while in the backs of their minds they really know that a stable level of human activity well within the natural support mechanisms is essential for a healthy future, and that when basic resources become obviously stressed, such as water in many cities and regions, it is obviously time to stop bloody well expanding the population and thus the overall level of demand!

But governments are so totally tied in to appeasing big business and the ever-increasing markets and profits paradigm that they won’t even consider this absolutely basic premise. This cannot be more obvious than in southeast Queensland, where the water situation is grave and has clearly been worsening for a long time, but where population growth remains rapid, with the full support of the state government!

This sinister connection between the vested-interest profit-chasers and those who are supposed to be protecting our society from its negative aspects, is so great that it is literally leading us rapidly to ruin.

We are on such an enormously antisustainable path, facilitated by governments, when the fundamental role of governments is to direct us towards sustainability and protect our future wellbeing.

Dickie says that WA is terminally ill. Well, Australia and indeed all democracies are terminally ill

How will this stop the liberal and labour parties setting up dummy "Trust Fund " type organizations as they do now?
Donations are made to the fund which in turn makes donations to the part and no-one is the wiser about where the money really came from.

the US seems, strangely to have a slightly more transparent system.
look up who bankrolled Ernie Schwarzenegger in California for example.