Peter Garrett was asked a “bruising” first question about his performance and demotion on Q&A last night by young interlocutor Sanjay Kumar, who asked if he’d offered his resignation to the Prime Minister. It’s been heavily reported today in the papers, but why no mention — or more importantly, no disclaimer by Kumar, Christopher Pyne or Tony Jones — that Kumar is the Administration Director of the SA Young Liberals (and member of the Marion branch), or that he’s a staffer for SA Liberal Senator Mary Jo Fisher (who took Big Mandy’s seat when she got her pasta posting)?

Tasmanian Greens leader Nick McKim is being groomed for Bob Brown’s position in the Senate. The Greens hierarchy are using this state election to raise the good-looking former advertising man’s profile with no Hobart media asking any hard questions of McKim, a la Kevin 07. Brown simply won’t be there in four years so McKim will resign during the upcoming term and go straight to Canberra courtesy of the ‘replacement Senator must be from the same party and state’ rule.

Your tipster must work for a current disability service provider — that’s the only explanation I can think of for their reference to the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations providers being able to place disabled people in work. Crap. Observing up close the woefully inadequate, ill-informed, untrained and downright cruel treatment a friend has received from a provider I can’t wait for the current lot to be tipped out.

They don’t have any employer contacts and seem incapable of making them; they don’t send disabled job seekers on relevant training, despite identifying training that may match a person to a job; and they call already demoralised people in every few weeks to patronise, goad and/or berate them.

And if the disabled job-seeker manages to make their own contact and get an interview, they get a lukewarm rap from the provider who isn’t able to make “the sell” to a scared employer who is too frightened to employ disabled people.