Smoke and mirrors.

There is an interesting rumour doing the rounds that might just strike a chord with some people.

Scuttlebutt has it that the amazing events taking place in the New South Wales parliament are a last throw of the dice by the ALP right wing machine to save the party from oblivion.

According to this scenario the ruling faction saw the situation as beyond retrieval under Morris Iemma and heaved a sigh of relief when his recall of parliament - and subsequent retreat with his tail between his legs - left him no option other than resignation.

They devised a recovery plan that centred around new premier Nathan Rees. A financial crisis was quickly manufactured. We were all on our way to " the poor house ". Our triple AAA credit rating was threatened. Doom and gloom was the order of the day.

Nathan Rees was ordered to abandon the denial and spin policies of the past. It was now " mea culpa " and apologies for the mess the government had created under it's former leadership - and a promise that things would be different under his new regime.

Under this plan we will shortly see a horror min budget with plenty of pain for the average voter. The ALP will be deliberately made unpopular because of the action taken - but Rees will be portrayed as a heroic figure - taking punishment to save New South Wales despite the battering his policies are taking.

At the same time money will be squirrelled away to pay for " the recovery ".

2009 will be the year of great discontent - but miraculously towards the middle of 2010 Rees will trumpet that New South Wales has " turned the corner " - and from then until the state election in March 2011 money will flow, new rail carriages will come on line to ease overcrowding - and the dire austerity measures will be rolled back - just in time for an ALP victory for Nathan Rees - the hero who saved this state !

Improbable ? Unlikely ? No more so than the story that this state dived from a June budget surplus to a billion dollar deficit - and nobody sitting around the budget table saw it coming !

Just an example of what is known as " reverse psychology " - turning bad news into an asset - and convincing people that they have been saved from an imaginary peril.

Such is the " art " of politics !