It's all about character -- including that of journalists

It’s all about character — including that of journalists

Did John Brogden have to go? Surely we want politicians with more than “chutzpah,” as Damien Murphy wrote in an online piece for The Sydney Morning Herald yesterday? These days, we want character as well – and Brogden failed the character test. We’ve had 20 years of (publicly) faithful and family-loving prime ministers now. This […]

Did John Brogden have to go? Surely we want politicians with more than “chutzpah,” as Damien Murphy wrote in an online piece for The Sydney Morning Herald yesterday? These days, we want character as well – and Brogden failed the character test.

We’ve
had 20 years of (publicly) faithful and family-loving prime
ministers now. This has obviously required discipline in some cases –
Bob and Hazel, anyone? Brogden failed that discipline test.

Yesterday
also shows that the sort of behaviour Hawke was once famous for will
no longer be regarded as off-the-record or tolerated – let alone
celebrated. And this isn’t just a trend in politics. Think Shane Warne.

But
we’re only just starting to accept the rigours of this new and tougher standard. The media didn’t touch the
story for a month in the belief that drunken bravado in private parties
should stay there and journalists are admitted on trust. Then they
turned on Brogden hard – but only after they’d been manipulated by his
internal enemies.

Meanwhile, there are some very odd double standards – like Sun-Herald journalist Angela Cumming’s “I’ve been around long enough to know a proposition” yarn in the SMH:

“I, like every other girl in Sydney, is used to the odd drunken suit
throwing out a dodgy pick-up line in a bar on a Friday night. It makes
me feel uncomfortable any time, as I believe women have a right to a
night out without being harassed.

“But when it is a politician with a wife and young child at home, then that really makes my blood boil.

“What
has upset me is Brogden first claiming the incident took place at the
AHA function. It didn’t. The AHA event was over and I was with
colleagues at a bar, trying to enjoy myself.

“Brogden made his remarks to me under the impression I was just a girl at a bar on a Friday night.

“But
I am not his mate. I don’t share jokes with him in the corridors of
Macquarie Street. Nor do I accept Brogden’s claim yesterday that his
actions were in jest.

“I have been around long enough to know when a proposition is a proposition.

“Being drunk is no excuse to make any woman, of any age and in any social situation, feel like I did that night.”