Raiderup, although I agree with your comments about the ability of monetary donations to political parties having the capacity to pollute the body politic, it doesn't stop there!
Let's not forget the $24m advertising campaign from the likes of BHP and RIO aimed at destroying Kevin Rudd's government, nor the current promise by the Real Estate sector to destroy whatever chances Bill Shorten has. Then there's what our big banks are doing to avoid fronting Shorten's RC.
This time round in Indi we've already seen other forms of political pollution at work.
It was kicked off when a spokeperson for Indi's branch of the Liberal Party had a letter published in the local daily Border Mail protesting that letters from Independent, Alan Lappin, were being published.
Soon thereafter Paul Murray of Sky ran a candidates forum at the Pinsent Hotel in Wangaratta; wherein he deliberately excluded Lappin. Another candidate was only allowed to sit in the audience. Murray even refused to explain why he did so as Cathy McGowan and Sophie Mirabella were sat centre stage and other candidates off to the side.
That set the pattern for the local daily Border Mail to refuse to publish anything about the excluded candidates and to frame the election in Indi as a two-way battle between Cathy McGowan and Sophie Mirabella. The same candidates excluded by Paul Murray were then excluded at two subsequent candidates' forums.
Absolutely outraged at this, Lappin sought intervention from both Cathy McGowan and Sophie Mirabella. None was forthcoming. He gate-crashed the Latrobe University candidates forum, went onto stage to introduce himself to the audience and to explain what has happened thus far in Indi before exiting the forum peacefully.
Public reaction to the television news report about has tongues wagging. Lappin has now been invited along with the other candidates to a forum being organised by the ABC and another by the VFF. Given the fallout from such a filthy and corrupted campaign, the outcome in Indi will be interesting to watch!
