ConservativeHippie,

Many of the opportunities your generation had are gone. Even with no criminal record, many people find it difficult to get work. With a criminal record I'd expect it to be much harder.

I'm not saying that criminals don't reform; Many do. I'm saying that your policy would deter them from reforming, as reducing the opportunities they have to go straight would cause more of them to reoffend.

Nathan, the reason 'this guy' Gordon is being singled out is because he shouldn't have run for office in the first place. Had he told the Labor selection committee, when asked "Is their anything in your background we should know about" he must have deceived them. It was inevitable this would all come out, especially as he wasn't paying his child support and threatening his ex-wife. Call me crazy, but this fellow's track record, which is undeniable, shows a distinct lack of respect for the Laws of the Land. This is not the kind of person anyone wants in a governmental decision making capacity.

I agree with you that all politicians need to be better vetted. It would be great if we had a choice of the Best candidates rather than the choice between the lesser of two evils. The more full disclosure we are aware of, the better decision making opportunity we have. People who have a past history of crime may have reformed, but we should at least be privy to their past if they want our trust.

Aiden, I accept that denying welfare to ex-cons is harsh but if such a policy were adopted, over time, say ten years or so, people would know one of the consequences of adopting a criminal life is the possibility they will not be eligible for welfare in the event they become convicted felons. I don't pretend to have all the answers and I realise it is easier said than done. However choosing a life of crime is optional; we don't have to reward bad behaviour.

Hi Nathan,

Yes, it must be tough for ex-petty-crims to find work. In this case, perhaps he should have been content to scab a job on a garbage truck until he retires, rather than as a member of Parliament.

I'm trying to recall any Labor or Liberal politician - apart from Obeid or Darcy, etc. - who had a record like this:

* Breaking and entering and stealing
* Breaking and entering with intent, attempted breaking and entering and stealing
* Breach of probation
* Public nuisance
* breach of bail conditions
* Driver licence suspended for unlicensed driving
* Served with an Apprehended Violence Order after a complaint by his mother
* Domestic violence (2)

Yes, as in the G. & S. favorite,

"When the accoster's finished jumping on his mother,
He lives to lie a-baskin' in the sun."

Or a-gettin' into Parliament.

I recall various politicians, one trying to import a colour TV in one case, and a teddy bear in another, and - not to minimise such vile crimes - they don't come within cooee of those listed above.

Couldn't some Labor hot-shots in the Cairns or Cooktown area have asked around beforehand, or better still, kept in constant and close touch with the relevant community ?

I suppose, once bitten, twice shy.

Joe

yep as I said before Tony punching the air 40 years ago is more important than these crimes. Labour/Greens/abc in WA is putting politics above child abuse in Indigeneous communities. Why should this surprise us. Yes many in Liberal are no different (full of self interest) except the national broadcasters would hammer them out of existance instead of protecting them.

Hi Runner,

I don't think we should minimise the crime of punching a wall, or leaning aggressively on one. The ramifications of leaning on a wall can be quite serious. But the full quote from Gilbert and Sullivan's 'Pirates of Penzance' should gives us heart, no matter how irrelevant it may seem in this case:

When a felon’s not engaged in his employment
Or maturing his felonious plans
His capacity for innocent enjoyment
Is just as great as any honest man’s
Our feelings we with difficulty smother
When constabulary duties to be done
I'll take one consideration with another
A policeman’s lot is not a happy one.

When an enterprising burglar’s not a burgling
When the cut throat isn’t occupied in crime
He loves to hear the little brook a gurgling
And listen to the merry village chime
When the coster’s finished jumping on his mother
He loves to lie a basking in the sun
I'll take one consideration with another
A policeman’s lot is not a happy one.

I hasten to point out that there is no evidence whatever that Mr. Gordon is now, or has ever been, a cut throat. But, on the other hand, while I had high hopes for a Palaszczuk Government, at least to give it a chance, maybe its throat might as well have been cut.

They used to call it 'due diligence'. Do it forward. Do it twice each time.

Joe

What I find particularly interesting is that the left whingers that pilloried Abbott for an unconfirmed accusation by a political rival of punching a wall are lining up to defend a man convicted of a string of crimes including assaults on his partners. This man is a low life grub, and those that defend him are hypocrites of the highest order.

The long and short of the saga is that Labor seriously screwed up. He is AP's Craig Thomson, except that he has already been convicted of crimes that are far worse than the petty larceny of Thomson. What is worse is that this was no secret among those PG had worked with previously and his pre selection was an omission of rank stupidity.

PG is unlikely to resign from his his guaranteed high paying job, AP will have to accept his vote to govern, and this will be a ongoing reminder to everyone of Labor's incompetence and sleaze. It is a gift to the LNP that will keep on giving.