Broggers bites the dust

Note: For the benefit of non-aussie readers, John Brogden is (was) the leader of opposition in the NSW State Government.

Well, it had to happen. When a person runs his mouth as much as John "Broggers" Brogden does, you know something idiotic will come out of it sooner or later. This guys idea of political debate is to disagree with everything the state government says, even if disagreeing means being completely wrong.

It came to a head today and he resigned. Why? Was it because he could not stand the State government's policies and failure to stick to its election promises? No. Was it because he was suffering from a physical ailment, a la Mark Latham and more recently deputy PM Anderson? He wishes.

Broggers resigned because his stupidity caught up with him. The (former) Leader of Opposition got tanked at a function, pinched the bottom of a journalist, propositioned another and made a racial slur against the wife of former NSW premier Bob Carr. Then, ironically, he denied it all blaming the ruling Labour party of a "grubby" personal attack. This from the master of grubby personal attacks.

Couple of weeks later, this:

"Clearly, in retrospect, I should have - from the outset when the questions were put directly to me - been honest and indicated that my behaviour was completely unacceptable, and I apologise," he said on a radio broadcast (Southern Cross
Broadcasting)

So, when lying didn't work, Broggers admitted to calling Helena Carr a "mail order bride" and misbehaving with the two journos. (Helena Carr is of Malaysian ancestry, the journos are female). He didn't blame the alcohol, which is a good thing. He probably is racist, sexist and up himself when sober. If there is any doubt, then factor in the following: the Liberals are confident of winning the next state election on the back of the current Labour government's inability to fix public utilities especially the rail network. In two years, Broggers would have been the Premier.

Lesson learnt from this: never pinch a journalist's bottom.

For more on this story go here

NB: A few days after resigning, Brogden tried to commit suicide. The media was blamed for taking things too far and there was a surge in sympathy for Broggers. In my humble opinion, the media did go over the top. So did Broggers. The game was played and some PR executive is having the last laugh.