On Day

John Kotsopoulos writes: Re. “Poll Bludger: are Day and Culleton victims of a silly, outdated rule?“(yesterday). I think that is simplistic in the extreme to sum up Bob Day’s  ‘infraction’ as one that involves “being owed money by the company from which the government had a lease arrangement with respect to his electorate office”.

He was offered the office  belonging to an outgoing Labor Senator but refused it. He instead demanded that the Government allow him to occupy a property he previously owned but which he had on-sold to a friendly buyer on vendor’s terms.

This was in lay terms a hire purchase agreement whereby effective ownership transfers only after the loan is fully paid out.

This arrangement meant the new ‘owner’ received lease payments from the Crown while Day got repayments  on the loan.

The sale on vendor terms was a contrivance  by Day to put distance between himself and the property while he remained the effective owner. He clearly had a direct pecuniary interest in the lease. Regardless of his position in the Senate the machinations leading to his demise are worthy of further investigation for possible criminal breaches.

What we missed

Richard Barlow writes: Re. “Rundle: why Americans will vote for Donald Trump” (yesterday). Guy Rundle must have been distracted by all the Weiners and the pussy grabbing in the US election. Hillary Clinton has talked about her policies, including in the debates, and her lefty grab bag includes increasing the minimum wage, paid sick and parental leave, affordable college, immigration reform, and the list goes on.  She will appoint Supreme Court justices who will safeguard affordable healthcare, protect civil rights laws, and continue a woman’s right to choose.  I am pretty sure poor white folks, Latinos, blacks, and Brooklyn millennials will find something in that list to make them feel good, or piss and moan about.  Those who feel excluded will continue to feel that way until they get another old white guy as president who talks tough and blows some foreign shit up.