Journalists are not there to be partisan.  In the Sunday Age, Parnell Palme McGuinness accused members of the press of ‘hysterical partisan thinking’ for thinking that Leeser’s resignation was a disaster for the Liberal Party.  She thinks it was good for the party – ‘it puts it back in its strongest territory: examining ideas rationally and on merit.’

But to reach that position – which in my view verges on the hysterical – the lady also accuses the P M of ‘embracing a partisan approach.’  She says that he has done so by ‘setting up for a referendum on Peter Dutton’s popularity as an easier task than the Voice referendum question, which some may find daunting.’

If that charge were meant seriously, it could be a serious charge of a form of deceit against the P M.  But I cannot take it seriously, because I cannot imagine a more obvious case of a partisan political statement.

Of the kind that pollutes the public life in our commonwealth.

Sunday Age – Parnell Palme McGuinness – partisan reporting.