Contributed by Joe Montero

The saga of Pauline Hanson’s deep seated personal corruption continues to unfold. 

Many have suggested that this has been evident for some time and it could quite easily also be suggested that maybe this should not be surprising, from someone who has shown an odious view of the world, filled with runaway bigotry, and an absence of feeling for fellow human beings in general and a monumental ego.

It is all the worse, because she once railed against the self-interest of traditional politicians chasing after the dollar. But instead of sticking true to her word, she has worked hard to become one of them.

It seems that Pauline Hanson has neither the skills or cunning to play the game she has chosen and with characteristic clumsiness, has left a trail of evidence of her apparent misdeeds. Her mishandling of people invites leaks about her activities. She has hardly even bothered to hide been seen to have her hand in the One Nation till and failed to make a number of disclosures of interests,, so obviously that it makes Abbott and Costello or Mister Bean look like smooth operators in comparison.

The longer she continues to give a proper account of herself, the more mud she finds herself in.

Should investigations into Hanson’s affairs provide hard evidence, she deserves to be dealt with appropriately.

Pauline Hanson’s actions are important, mainly because they represent the crude end of a sickness that infects the political establishment of this country. She is not the only one seen to be engaged in corrupt behavior. The list of members of parliament, federally and in the states, being forced to bow out in disgrace is growing. And they are just the ones who have managed to get themselves caught.

There is every reason to believe that the problem is much more extensive. Why wouldn’t it be, when government is mainly carried out in the corridors with well healed lobbyists.How many ministers end up on the boards of companies that they had associated with when ministers? This is so widespread that it is a routine part of the job.  Some use their position to provide advantage to businesses run by other family members or acquaintances. Failure to disclose interests is rife.

There is also the subtler form of corruption. The opportunity to make it into the ranks of the elite, having one’s ego stroked and enjoying the lifestyle of the privileged. Socialisation into these ranks and separation from the world of mere mortals, must have a corrupting  influence on the thinking of those affected.

This is the real problem. Solving it needs a more than getting rid of a few bad apples. It is the whole setup that is wrong. Going for Pauline Hanson’s head is not enough. The whole stable needs to be cleaned up and to do this we need to look at the political institutions that germinate the sickness.

We should be talking about how Australia can come up with political institutions that serve the Australian community much better.