Nats put Miners before Farmers - and admit it

Dear oh dear.

Fresh from being bitch slapped by the Voters for not sticking up for the farmers against John Howard, Barnaby (and the Nats) had a brain fade this last week when they/he unexpectedly supported a Green bill to insist on a water study before any mining licenses were to be granted.

At first I though it was part of the more realistic approach to politics. You know. Sticking up for your constituents? But alas it was not.

A quick phone call from the the chief executive of the Minerals Council of Australia corrected this anomaly and Barnaby threw the ute into reverse and sped away from his original position.

But even more surprisingly, in a flash of honesty, young Barnaby admitted to the reason for the back flip.

Wow. Two mistakes in one day. While this would be a relief for the Libs, this is a big day for the Nationals. They don't have a lot of seats left and to be quite so candid is a luxury they can't afford.

It does highlight a couple of points though that are worth thinking about.

• Obviously funding for elections is more important than happy voters.
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• Barnaby is a bit of a wild canon in the leadership role
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• It wasn't just a domineering Howard that caused them to go "yellow"
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• Farmers who think voting National is good self preservation are getting a shock

As you might expect (even if Barnaby didn't) the Farmers groups were outraged by the reversal and I'm guessing the Miners aren't that happy to have their finger prints identified as the cause for the back flip.

Barnaby took over the Leadership in the Senate, on the strength of differentiating themselves from the Environmentally clueless Liberals. This effort would indicate their constituents are in for more of the same. Another classic example of the Voters being ahead of the pollies.