Reference :- Venerable Prime Minister , Mr Scott Morrison made a tough decision .

Reference :-   Mr Morrison may be a hard man . Hard but fair . Senator McKenzie  has been demoted to a pay level most of us can only dream of .

Mr Morrison,  sir ,  do you know much about the Book of Mormon ?     The divinely inspired  and totally sane Joseph Smith reputedly dictated it while staring into a hat . Nobody was allowed to see the original draft , which he claimed was engraved on sheets of gold .  This image came to mind as you read the report of Phil Gaetjens , explaining the behaviour of Senator McKenzie .   I suspect this was deliberate , and it was a good look , although glancing regularly in the direction of the door diminished your facade of authority  . 

Phil was a fine choice.  The  annoyingly independent  Auditor General was scathing , and you needed a more balanced assessment from an old mate . And an old mate who used to be your Chief of Staff couldn't have been better .

Not reading the whole report was also wise , and not allowing anybody else to see it shields other parties who prefer to exercise their right to remain anonymous . But why bother to blame the 36 grand , donated to a club Ms McKenzie belonged to, for her downfall ?  

  My son , Ken junior , reckons you could have left that out as well , and said that she was sacked because at the close of a cabinet meeting she passed the decanter of port to the right instead of the left  .  Everybody knows the importance of tradition in the halls of power .
He says that if you are going to sweep  99, 964,000   quid under the drugget ,  what difference is another  36 grand going to make ?   Ken junior also wants to know what is happening with all those redundant sports grants assessment teams .   Are they currently looking at the grants for victims of the droughts and the fires ?

 Anyway , it is all history now , and I doubt we will hear about this trumped up scandal again .
 
By the way ,  how is it going with the distribution of funds for drought and fire relief ?
We are strong Labor supporters out here at Kooralya , but the dam is dry and the countryside charred .    I would consider it a favour if you could draw attention to our application for assistance on the appropriate spreadsheet . 

  But don't use a red highlighter .  Blue will do nicely , if you get my drift .

    Thanking you in advance ,    Your comrade , Ken