NSW Parliament: when saying sorry isn't enough

When I opened yesterday's newspaper one of the first things I would normally have expected to see wouldn't have been a piece on Nats MP for Coffs Harbour Andrew Fraser shoving a female colleague in the NSW Parliament on Tuesday night.
Though I have to say there was little surprise in reading that policial argy bargy had again turned to biff.

That's the second time in three years that this NSW North Coast state parliamentarian has become angry and violent.
His physical attack on Joe Tripodi in October 2005 caused his second suspension from the House (being previously marched out by the Serjeant-at-Arms in May 2004) and now he's missed out on a third by a whisker because Parliament is nearing recess for 2008.

Kartrina Hodgkinson may have accept his personal apology just as Tripodi did.
However, saying sorry just doesn't have the same impact with the electorate if you're well on the way to becoming a serial offender.
Especially when Fraser admits that he had been drinking earlier in the night.

The NSW Opposition and the North Coast Nationals need to get their houses in order and Speaker Richard Torbay needs to exercise some control over that self-indulgent kindergarten in Macquarie Street.