WHO THE HELL ARE THEY?

Opening my Herald I was confronted by a quarter page photo of a group of men and one woman.  All of them wore face masks. Their names were Bob Baldwin, John Murphy, John Hogg, Barry Haase, Dick Adams, and the woman.
I won’t name her because that would give the game away.  All I can say is that they are costing us a heck of a lot of money, and it ain’t worth it.
That might have given the game away anyway.  You see, they are an all Party delegation presently touring the world at our expense, and the poor buggers are presently in Mexico.   Belinda Neal and the kindly Bill Heffernan were also in the group, but he fled, worried about swine fever.  The swine probably were, too.
The mask suited Ms Neal, although she’d have done better donning it on one occasion at a night spot up Gosford way.
The interesting thing about the delegation, all of its members excepting, for the wrong reasons, Ms Neal and Senator Heffernan, are virtually unknown, and, to my knowledge, have contributed absolutely nothing to justify their seat in Parliament, except for asking the odd Dorothy Dixer,or maybe making a speech late one night on some abstruse subject.
So what are they doing touring the world on the taxpayers at a time when even an increase in pensions, or maternity leave are in danger?
Well may you ask.  In fact, these tours are part of  the perks of being an MP.

Which brings me to the subject of the $90 per week which were added to their pay packets last week.  Now the members claim that this rise was in fact, not classed as part of their salary, even though any left over will go into their pockets.  But actually, the members will tell you, they need the money for  electoral expenses, such as donations to the local football or cricket clubs, or raffle tickets for some good cause,  or local or charities to which they are expected to donate.  It’s funny, you know, I donate to all sorts of charities, mainly the local hospital and the starving Africans, and a couple of hundred to bushfires in Victoria, and another couple to tsunamis and other disasters that come along, but the Government doesn’t ever feel that my pension should be increased to cover my generosity.In fact, the $90 given to the MP’s, is really an exercise in helping them  to buy votes, isn’t it?
But then, the PM gets somewhere between $300000 and S400000 per annum, while bank CEO’s and other greedy individuals get millions.
It’s a funny old world!