Sime says

And that’s exactly what they’ve done. The Golden Slipper – one of Australia’s marquee horse races – hasn't been included in the Hall of Fame. Instead, a 25-year veteran of Federal politics has been kicked from the backbench to the front of the chamber and into in the Speaker’s chair in the House of Representatives. Its a Cinderella story for Peter Slipper, the one-time Liberal National Party member, who in 2009 is rumoured to have racked up more than $640k in expenses in six months as a humble backbencher. To Labour, “slippery” Pete was a shoe-in for the job. With Julia singing “slip sliding away” every time she thought of her tenuous grip on power, her eyes must have settled on her man seated high   across the chamber from her. Dressed in a smart pinstripe with a flashy green tie, given to him by Bob Brown to mark the occasion, Pete was obviously keen to slip a little closer to the PM. You’ve got to feel for the little bearded man Harry Jenkins, the former speaker of th...

Kung Fu master David Carradine hung himself in a wardrobe. Rock legend Michael Hutchence chose asphyxiation whilst tied to a door handle and cricketing scribe Peter Roebuck jumped out a window. What is it about hotel rooms that lure persons of interest to check-in and check-out in rather mysterious circumstances? During my lengthy tenure with a five star hotel chain, thankfully I never had to deal with a corpse. The closest I came to in-room calamity involved a guest with an irresistible urge to defecate and decorate the room with excreta, and someone with a desire to disrobe and appear naked in the hallway. Such voyeuristic acts were cleaned and dressed in no time and are mere distractions when compared to an untimely and tragic death. In Roebuck’s case, his early departure from the crease has possibly revealed a troubled soul. Already there are claims of sexual misconduct levelled against the once fine batsman, writer and broadcaster. Unable to fend off the stinging attack...