Sawford's silly suggestion

From the ABC:

The federal Labor MP for Port Adelaide, Rod Sawford, says GST revenue should be withheld from South Australia unless it sets up an anti-crime and corruption commission.

Mr Sawford says it is naive to think that corruption does not occur in South Australia.

The MP believes anti-corruption commissions should be established in all states that do not already have them.

"Now if states fail to comply with this they should have, in my view, a percentage of the GST payments withdrawn," he said.

Now first off, the anti-corruption bodies in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia (I think it's just those three) are highly worthy organisations that have improved the political culture in their respective states. But one must wonder if this is an appropriate erosion of Australian federalism. If it is, then what other strings should be attached to GST funding?

But what makes this a truly dopey suggestion is that no such anti-corruption body exists at the federal level either. Even by the standards of Australian politics, this proposal would be galling hypocrisy. (You might even say it would be naive to think that corruption does not occur in Canberra.)

One must wonder why Sawford - who is retiring at the coming election - appears to have such an axe to grind with his own party's government in his home state. Indeed, what is it with the multitude of departing federal MPs (most of them Labor ones) who refuse to go quietly?

Outgoing Franklin MHR Harry Quick is a case in point. This week, he's used the Mighell controversy to conjure up yet another reason why his preselected replacement is unworthy of his seat.