Hazar for John Anderson

John Anderson, who was Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the National Party, today stepped down from those positions to serve out the rest of his term on the backbench. I feel a little sad about this - I like the guy (and Tim Fischer before him) and I reckon he did good for the country as Deputy. While I can't point to any particular decisions or policies to back up this likeability, we all know that politics is about 95% "perception" of a particular parliamentarian and my perception is that John Anderson is a good bloke. So, I'm sorry he's not Deputy anymore, and I wish him luck in the rest of his life.

It does bring me to an interesting question, though - why do parliamentarians resign from a position in the middle of a term, when they know they still have to continue as the member for their given electorate? Surely MPs can decide before an election that they would like to retire, or at the end of a term. It makes it seem like ministers are the only ones who do any work, and backbenchers are like working retirees. I'm not sure if this is true, but it's how it sounds. If you can't be a minister anymore, maybe you shouldn't be an MP anymore either, and will need to retire from Parliament completely. Then again, big Kim Beazley shows that people can come back from the backbenches. I don't know. It just intrigues me.

Anyway, hazar for John Anderson. More Christians in parliament please.

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