Former dustman's new job? Cleaning up a political mess

Sydney

Every school student in Sydney knows the story of the Rum Rebellion, a chaotic but bloodless 19th century coup by disgruntled army officers against William Bligh, governor of New South Wales.

Exactly 200 years after Bligh's ignominious removal the state's Labor premier, Morris Iemma, suffered a similar fate.

Last Friday Mr Iemma, a well-meaning but ineffective leader, announced he was standing down after losing the support of fellow Labor MPs. The outgoing premier - nicknamed 'Dilemma' due to his insipid style - had tried unsuccessfully to revamp an unpopular cabinet. Clearly shaken, the 47-year-old career politician said he would leave Parliament for a full-time job as 'husband and father' - the first NSW Labor premier to be removed by his own party.

Hard on the heels of this bombshell came the news that the party had elected political novice Nathan Rees, 40, to replace Mr Iemma. After just 18 months in Parliament, the new premier was virtually unknown outside his own electorate.

It is one of the ironies that Australians - who live in the world's most over-governed nation - don't get to elect their own state or federal leaders. That is a role given to faceless party apparatchiks. As one political commentator put it: 'After 13 years of Labor government, the people of NSW have in Nathan Rees a second premier they did not vote for, heading a cabinet whose members were selected by unelected Labor officials, promoting policies voters have never been asked to endorse.'