The Melbourne Herald Sun is running hard with a story today about the fact that the Victorian government employs four members of Premier John Brumby’s family in taxpayer-financed jobs …

“Mr Brumby’s daughter, a nephew and two sisters-in-law work as electoral officers and inside his office and that of Deputy Premier Rob Hulls …… A Labor source said the practice was widespread across all parties … “Lots of people are doing it”… Mr Brumby’s office responded to inquiries from the Herald Sun by releasing a list of several Liberal and National Party MPs involved in similar practice, but declined to name any Labor MPs who had family employed within government.”

Will this revelation hurt Brumby in a state election year? Maybe. Is it an issue that ranks on the scale of importance with transport, financial management or public safety for voters? No. Should politicians employ family members in taxpayer-funded jobs? No. Are the optics bad? Yes. Should Brumby and the Opposition Liberals introduce new rules to introduce transparency to the employment of politicians’ family members in government-funded jobs? Absolutely. Will they do it? Probably not, unless it becomes a festering issue.

Sometimes, as South Australian Premier Mike Rann is discovering to his great dismay, it’s the nasty little personal matters that create the biggest negative impact. As, in the case of the Premier’s family on the public payroll, they should.