Matt McCarten: “there is an ethical sickness in our Parliament”

Matt McCarten has written the best commentary so far on Philip Field’s conviction for corruption and bribery by linking it very plausibly to the ongoing parliamentary expenses scandal. Field’s corruption springs from the same ‘avaricious political culture of Parliamentary entitlement’ that has infected virtually all contemporary MPs and political parties. McCarten’s whole column is worth reading in full, but it’s the last part that most crucially highlights the fact that the biggest rort is actually due to the parliamentary parties themselves corruptly appropriating taxpayer funds for partisan political activity:

In my opinion there is an ethical sickness in our Parliament when even senior MPs no longer see themselves as the people's servants in public duty, but as political elites who are entitled to the maximum remuneration and perks they can give themselves.  But the rort isn't just restricted to individual benefits. All the parties now collectively fleece the taxpayer to fund their political election machines.  For example, three of the four main candidates in the recent Mt Albert byelection were already MPs and receiving their salaries and expenses right through the campaign.  In addition, the campaign staff were either MPs as well or Parliamentary staff with most of their costs paid.  Even the Prime Minister authorised a Cabinet minister on full pay to manage his candidate's campaign for eight weeks. The salary bill for just that was a good part of $40,000.  This week, a lone MP was convicted in court for corruption. But our whole political system is fraudulent. Party organisations as we used to know them no longer exist in a meaningful way.  List MPs are effectively party organisers and parties are covertly funded by taxpayers through the back door. Every party is guilty of it. This week the senior leaders of every Parliamentary party should have been in the defendant's dock with Field.