Inopportune timing

The middle of a man’s trial on a strongly defended charge of rape is surely an appallingly tasteless time for speculation about the outcome of Labor Party pre-selections for the seat he will not be able to contest if he is found guilty. Yet Paul Austin in the Age this morning has done just that with a nasty little piece saying that Theo Theophanous has caused a headache for the Brumby Government by nominating for preselection for next year’s state election. According to Austin, many senior Labor figures had hoped Mr Theophanous would quit politics, enabling Premier John Brumby to campaign free from any lingering distractions caused by the sexual assault accusation. Some of us intently following press coverage of the trial hope that talk of “lingering distractions” wait until after the jury has delivered its verdict.

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