If it was possible to conduct an objective competition to judge Australia’s worst state government, NSW Labor would have to start pretty close to favourite. To be unable to defeat Labor then, the NSW Liberals would have to be odds-on as the worst opposition. It’s no surprise then that Peter Debnam is holding the wrong auction ahead of the March poll.

Demonstrating the hapless Libs are incapable of learning anything, Debnam is promising yet more police than Premier Dilemma is finding extremely difficult to find, let alone keep.

“I’ll see your 750 and raise you 1,100,” is Dumnut’s bid. Laura Norder is the only girl the Libs think will go out with them but she’s looking more than a little past her prime.

Elsewhere in the fishwrappers are stories about the chronic shortages of doctors and nurses and training places for them while the ratio of applicants to medical school places remains ridiculous. With NSW having to import under-trained medicos from the third world, that’s an auction voters could be interested in.

Meanwhile the finance pages have a yarn about Rio’s coal mining profits being slashed by the inability to ship the stuff through Newcastle. There were 55 ships in the queue off the port so mine production has had to be cut back. That might make the odd greenie happy, but it’s an economic loss for the rest of us. Infrastructure also could be a matter of interest.

But no, let’s stick to police numbers. It’s so much simpler. Maybe it’s all Dilemma and Dumnut can handle.