Labour of hate born out of lonely lot

THE man behind the now infamous "dirt files" paid for by the Liberal Nationals is somewhat like your average schoolyard misfit.

Robert Hough

THE man behind the now infamous "dirt files" paid for by the Liberal Nationals is somewhat like your average schoolyard misfit.

Robert Hough, who has now quit politics and is back studying at university, never fitted in with the cool kids, the smart kids or the athletic kids in school.

In political circles, Hough was an outsider who liked to hang around power but never attained any of his own.

But Hough's feeling that his talents were overlooked, that he was harshly treated by his peers, has provoked the school misfit to return and exact revenge on his classmates.

The former ministerial adviser has systematically taken aim at the Labor team of 2011 that both scorned and scarred him.

Yet Hough's character assassinations of certain Labor members reveals more about the relationship he had with them than it does about the MP themselves.

However, these dirt files probably say much more about the LNP than it does about Labor. LNP campaign director James McGrath paid for this material, naively believing it would probably never get out unless it was by his hand.

But he paid for it regardless, and for that he is being condemned.

Campbell Newman and his supporters yesterday tried yesterday to draw comparisons with Labor's recent dirt-digging on his interests, but highlighted the differences in how it was obtain.

However, both arguments are limited.

Firstly, the information Labor has been digging up on Newman's interests is not political dirt because most of it directly relates to ethical issues, were he to become premier.

And secondly, arguing that this dirt was being dug up at the expense of taxpayers through the Premier's office, while the LNP paid for its muck from its own pocket, is logically bankrupt.

For a start, political parties are now funded by taxpayers, so it could just as easily be argued that this was paid for by the public.

And even if it could be argued that these dirt files were paid for by donors' pockets, exactly which supporters of the LNP agreed to have their money used for these means?

Because of this, just like many other school misfits, Hough has missed his mark.

Those who paid him little and were supposed to be the agents of his revenge have borne the brunt of his fury.

And those who paid him a lot, but were in his crosshairs for never accepting him, have received nothing but collateral damage.

Hough misread the political environment, if he thought now was the time to dish his dirt. Perhaps his poor political judgment was why he ended up an outcast.