Peter Dutton, the Federal opposition's Health spokesman has a problem. His Gold Coast seat of McPherson has had a redistribution and is now nominally Labor. Dutton missed out on preselection for another conservative safe seat when the branch rejected him in favour of a local.
He is faced with two basic choices. Either to campaign and try to wrest McPherson back to the conservatives - or convince a sitting conservative to retire and hand him a safe seat - provided the local branch will go along with that option.
This comes to the root of what politics is all about. The original idea of a parliament was an assembly where each village voted to send their most respected member to represent them in a conclave of the wise and fair.
Then came party politics !
Both sides of politics are equally guilty of using muscle to parachute a chosen one into a supposedly safe seat - against the wishes and objections of the locals.
It became an art form within the Labor party with use of the notorious N-40 rule - with varied results.
In some cases the " cuckold " won over the people and went on to become a favoured local member, but then there was the debacle of Cunningham - when this safest of safe Labor seats revolted against such an intruder - and for the first time elected a " Green " to the lower house.
You would think both sides of politics would respect the right of local branches to select a candidate of their own choosing, but that is not the way of party politics.
No double muscle will be exerted - and push will come to shove and down the track Mr Dutton will be accommodated - but unfortunately such a traversty of democracy does little to enhace the fairness of parliament in the eyes of the voters !
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