Channel 9's 'A Current Affair' last night carried the story of Melissa Batten's intention to stand as an independent candidate in the Division of Robertson, Australia's most marginal, at the upcoming Federal elections.

Melissa was a central player in what became the long-running 'Iguanagate' high farce that starred NSW Central Coast MP for Robertson, Belinda Neal (ALP), wife of NSW Legislative Councilor and ALP power broker John Della Bosca, in the role of self-important bully-girl in an altercation over tables at local nightspot 'Iguana Joe's'.

Melissa became to be the first of a number of persons innocently involved in this farce to lose their jobs. She had the misfortune to have been a newly appointed member of Belinda Neal's electorate office staff, and to be present at Iguana Joe's on the night in question. Asked to submit a Statutory Declaration as to how she had seen events unfold, her first statement was considered unhelpful to Ms Neal's cause, and promptly shredded. A second statement, by Melissa's own admission omitting some content that had been in the first, was also shredded. Unable to be both loyal and truthful at the same time, Melissa's usefulness to her erstwhile employer was clearly at an end, and her position untenable.

Melissa had the courage to subsequently publicly admit to being ashamed for having even submitted the second declaration under the pressure of what was presumably the office group-think prevailing. She felt she had let her children down by not upholding her own standards.



I do not profess to know what has encouraged Melissa Batten to become a candidate for Robertson, but I doubt very much that it is sour grapes over the loss of her job. Whatever it is, I think the smartest move the ALP, nationally, could make would be to welcome Melissa Batten's intended candidacy with open arms. Might get a message through where its needed. Robertson electors wouldn't be being deceived as to Melissa's political loyalties, undeserved as they may be.

What do others think?

She's just capitalising on her 15 minutes of fame. Good luck to her.

C J M has it about right, but Robinson ALP electors if you read this.
Today is D day.
Dump day dump Belinda please let her be a warning to those who think they can ride on the back of the party and its members.
A hard seat to hold at any time putting her back as candidate is donating it to Liberals.

Last night's Channel 9 'A Current Affair' reported that this afternoon Belinda Neal faces an ALP pre-selection challenge made by two-time former endorsed candidate for the OLD (then Liberal-held) NSW State Electoral District of Gosford, and university lecturer, Deborah O'Neill.

Belinda Neal has Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's support in this pre-selection tussle. See: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/05/2837280.htm?section=justin

Here is a slightly more expansive report on this pre-selection contest: http://www.smh.com.au/national/neal-to-conquer-a-tough-battle-in-labors-tightest-seat-20100304-plsb.html



Let me make it quite clear at the outset that I am no fan of Belinda Neal. Nor am I a fan of either major party in Australia at the moment, in large measure because of the perceivably political elitist class from which they both seem to insist upon drawing such endorsed candidates as have any real prospects of electoral success, in the end merely rubber-stamping such with the (grudging?) approval of their pressured, ever-diminishing, party memberships. Candidates that in large measure end up representing themselves and their party line to the community at large, rather than the views of the community at large in Parliament.

The irony is that I have to disagree with Belly's recommendation to his fellow ALP members to dump Belinda as endorsed ALP candidate for Robertson. Retaining Belinda's endorsement, in the circumstance of Melissa Batten's announced intended candidacy as an independent for Robertson , in a perverse sort of way may be the only way of the seat being retained by someone who, in a very close election, would in all likelihood support an ALP, rather than Coalition, government if the contest went down to the wire.

I don't think the cognoscenti on either side have any idea of the derision in which Belinda Neal is held throughout the electorate. I suspect very large numbers of voters would just love the opportunity to vote 1, Batten (Ind), then either 2, Neal, ALP; or 2, whoever, Liberal; or 2, whoever, Greens.

Melissa might get up.

With those principles Melissa has no chance in politics.

However her candidacy will effectively torpedo Belinda Niel

It is not often that anyone listens to Forrest Gumpp.

The announcement that Melissa Batten intended being an independent candidate at the upcoming Federal elections may prove to have been an exception. I can recall holding forth immediately after the 'Iguanagate' farce to anybody that would listen that the only way the ALP had any chance of rescuing anything from the debacle would be if it had the wit to dump Belinda in favour of Melissa for its endorsement.

That clearly hasn't, and won't, happen.

It would not surprise me if Melissa Batten was not approached by ALP power brokers to stand for such a pre-selection contest as is now happening, despite her proven and commendable loyalty displayed after having been effectively pressured to bend or conceal the truth in Belinda Neal's interests. She went quietly and with dignity from the job she had been so proud to have been then but newly appointed to, although, I suspect, deeply disillusioned by what she had witnessed.



The thing is, it would appear that the whole point and impact of Melissa's candidacy will evaporate if Belinda Neal is dumped from pre-selection today.



That would leave Melissa standing as an independent against an endorsed ALP candidate, one as far as is known who had little to do with the machinations that saddled both the local ALP membership, and the electorate at large, with Belinda Neal, her sense of entitlement, and her bullying abuse of her public office. In such circumstances I suspect Melissa's sense of propriety would lead her to withdraw from a candidacy she would be otherwise utterly justified and sincere in pursuing.

If Melissa Batten is not going up against Belinda Neal, little advantage can be taken of the motivation of all those across the political spectrum who, perhaps knowing little else of Melissa than that she lost her job for simply trying to do the right thing, would just love the opportunity to deliver a good electoral slap to the bully-girl, and to the NSW ALP right wing machine that foisted Belinda upon them.