Hinch’s struggles

John Richardson writes: Re. “Hinch’s Senate Diary: eyes wide shut in the red room” (yesterday). I was fascinated to read Derryn Hinch’s account of the challenges attached to taking-up a seat in the Australian Senate.

By way of contrast, I’m standing for my local Council and have been on a fairly steep learning curve these past few weeks, not only trying to navigate the labyrinth of NSW electoral laws and the deep mysteries of the Hare-Clark voting system, but the sudden discomforting interest being shown in me by all sorts of people, some of whom may well have previously stepped over me if I’d been lying in the street.

Then, last night, along with my hapless counterparts, I was privileged to endure the attentions of our local residents and ratepayers under the hot lights of our local bowling club as they sought to understand where we were all coming from and why we were here at all.

No-one understands how members of the Liberal Party can be “Independents” or how property developers can seriously claim to be motivated by best interests of our community; but it is NSW after all … home of the “scam” and imperfect memories.

While I’m not sure how I’ll go in the polls, I am obviously reassured by the knowledge that my road will never be as tough as Derryn’s. Oh, and having read about Derryn’s “Olsen”, I went and found my old Larry Pickering calendar, which I’m sure will do the job just as well.

Niall Clugston writes: If Hinch thinks the first day is boring, how is he going to cope with three years? How’s he going to cope with the fact that the Senate doesn’t normally deal with criminal law? Will his Senate Diary end up being Hinch’s Sleep Diary?