Scandal needs to be the biggest wake-up call to every politician in the Territory

THE scandal embroiling the Labor Party needs to be the biggest wake-up call to not only every single member of the Gunner government but every politician in the Territory.

THE scandal embroiling the Labor Party needs to be the biggest wake-up call to not only every single member of the Gunner government but every politician in the Territory.

It also needs to be a wake-up call to staffers who have also found themselves working in a privileged position alongside elected members.

The fact one particular staffer has already resigned over this scandal shows, they too, should not take their positions within government for granted.

While staffers are not elected members of parliament, they have a rich influence on the way politicians work and they are influential on the way Territorians live their lives.

So while our politicians need to be held to an extremely high standard, so to do the staffers. There are some political staffers who are extremely nervous about police investigations that are taking place related to this scandal.

And so they should be.

There’s a golden rule: if you don’t have the character or fortitude to abide by high standards as a political staffer, you should walk away and find a new career.

The text messages published today paint Labor MLA Mark Turner in an extremely bad light.

But without the dogged determination of our journalists, this story would have never come to light.

Territorians have a right to expect our politicians and their staffers to meet the highest standards.

If they don’t, they 100 per cent deserve to be exposed.