Wagga’s name has been dragged through the mud this week, and what makes it even more galling is that it is the Member for Wagga Wagga – who should be our great city’s biggest cheerleader – who was responsible.
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If Daryl Maguire had the Wagga community’s interest at heart, he would have not just quit the Liberal Party and moved to the crossbench, but quit the seat altogether.
The statement released at the conclusion of his appearance at the ICAC hearing in Sydney on Friday is instructive.
In it, he apologised for the “distress and embarrassment” he had caused the Liberal Party and said he was “deeply sorry … for any hurt and embarrassment I have caused to my family, friends and colleagues”.
Where is the apology to his constituents? After all, these are the very people who voted him into the exulted position of Member of Parliament in 1999 and have kept him there ever since.
There is no benefit to the Wagga community of having Mr Maguire finish his term as an independent on the crossbench.
This region would be far better served by going to a by-election and seeing if the next Wal Fife or Joe Schipp – people who truly did their best for the community – is out there.
All the best, Ross.