Unless Belinda Neal’s got a whole lot calmer in the past twelve months or so, I would think her husband and now ex-Health Minister John Della Bosca would be looking to spend as much time at work as possible. I dare say it would be a whole lot safer in the Bearpit than in the, uh… Iguana Pit? But like the link says, Della Bosca’s been caught playing around with a 26 year old, and so he’s leaving his Health position and relinquishing his leadership of the Legislative Council.
Bad news for those of us anticipating the Constitutional novelty of John Della Bosca leading Parliament from the upper house — an unusual but apparently entirely legitimate idea that’s been thrown around in the “can’t we find someone better than Nathan Rees to run this state?” stakes. But it does seem a bit odd that Della Bosca caved so quick.
The guy survived the stupidly named Iguanagate scandal last year, where surviving is roughly equivalent to maintaining a rep as one of the best ministers in the state. And since NSW Labor has shown no real proficiency with damage control, it seems an odd time to start, when a potential leader’s career is at stake over an issue not related to his ministerial duties, and one probably unlikely to damage his standing with the electorate. (I get the distinct impression NSW voters would be quite sympathetic to someone with a desire to spend less time around Neal.)
So come on, Della. Stick it out. If not for your own ambitions, at least for those of us who would rather read about your shenanigans rather than a slew of policy announcements your party has no intention of following through on anyway.
The Screw 