What is more important

the safety of children or a bicycle race which brings in money?
It's a serious question.
The Premier of this state flew off to France last Friday. His stated aim was to try and secure the Tour Down Under for the state beyond 2016. Apparently the contract runs out then. Right.
He left behind an absolutely appalling child sexual abuse scandal. It is of major proportions - even bigger than the media has led people to believe. What is even more appalling is that it took some digging on the part of the media to uncover most of it.
I will not go into the sordid details here. It is simply too distressing. I have no doubt the story will run for a while. The media will make the most of it.
But, behind it all, there are children. There are children who were too young to articulate what was happening to them. They had already been taken from an unsafe environment. They were supposed to be "safe". They weren't.
There are the usual arguments about what those in authority did and did not know and who told who what and when. I have known MPs to say "Don't tell me." I suspect that this has been the case here. If you "haven't been told" it might save your own job.
Well, I'm sorry. I know it is a nice job to have. The pay packet is quite exceptional, the additional perks - such as the chauffeur driven car - are great. The superannuation package is excellent.
But, you are expected to work for all that. You are expected to take the responsibility.
And, it is even more important for you to take the responsibility if you lost the election - which you did - but formed government because of the way the electoral system works. Yes, that's democracy, even if you won a minority of the votes you have to take the responsibility if you form government.
You don't go off on holiday to France saying that you are working to secure a bicycle race. You might meet a couple of people there and mention it but the real negotiations will be done by others. The bicycle race, like the car race and the horse race we have a silly public holiday for, is not important. It is not of long term benefit to the state. It does not provide the young unemployed with year round jobs and a career path. Nobody who cared about children would, in the current circumstances, expect you to be where you are or stay there. If they did care so little about children then do we really want to do business with them anyway?
So, I am sorry about the holiday Mr Premier but you have a job to do. Come home and do it.