Senator X deserves a medal for maintaining his integrity and rationality despite his continuous exposure to the ignorance and ego-driven bullsh*t that passes itself off as 'party politics' in our Federal capital. Sadly, his criticisms of Joyce's 'management' of Qantas will probably be seen as bias by AJ's mates in the (Chairman's Lounge) political right, and his call for a review of the mindless Open Skies Policy may well take too long to save the Roo from continued capacity-dumping in the domestic aviation market or the Leprechaun's next effort at Orange Asian expansion.
As I approach my more mature years, I have become increasingly disillusioned with the farce that passes itself off as national governance in Canberra. As evidenced by the recent Senate hearings, many politicians lack the knowledge to be able to competently tackle complex issues, with some not even being diligent enough to read the expert submissions of those like Steve P who are in a position to explain the issues for them. Instead, we are subjected to grandstanding bullies like Senator Evans, to whom anything other than 'blue ribbon Liberal policies' are like a red flag to a bull. A political career nowadays seems to represent nothing more than an opportunity to provide favours for one's preferred interest groups prior to retiring from Canberra and cashing in on those favours.
The one exception to the above comments, in my opinion, is Senator Nick Xenophon, who is obviously highly intelligent and seems to be generally concerned with the welfare of the nation's population that he serves. If only we could clone him about 200 times, abolish all political parties and let proposals stand or fall in Parliament on their merits, rather than through the 'mine's bigger than yours' approach of current party politics. Unfortunately, Nick seems to be unique and the only options offered as alternatives to the entrenched political parties are redneck miner's or fish-and-chips shop owners from the North.
To Senator Xenophon I would say, congratulations on your unwavering efforts to improve the level of informed political debate in this country and long may you keep the bastards honest!