Political rule bending !

A shiver must be running down the spine of many state politicians.

A staffer has revealed details of a scam in which claims were made for casual staff under the rules in force - but in fact those staff did not work the hours claimed and were illegally tasked with trying to secure re-election of the member.

All this seems to have emerged because of a falling out between the staffer - and the parliamentarian.

In the murky world of politics, the selection of personal staff is a tricky business because of the inevitable access to information that would be damaging if released to the public.

In this instance the revelation has resulted in loss of a plum position as a parliamentary secretary - and the possible expulsion from parliament if it goes to prosecution.

Now that the proverbial cat is out of the bag, many will wonder how wide is this practice - and who are the offenders.

And many politicians will be wondering how secure are their relations with those trusted personal staff members !