The Monday Quote - 6/7/2009

OK, it goes to Bill Ralston again. That's not because we have some deep, dark Ralston fetish; moreso it's because Ralston is always quotable, not to mention the fact that he publishes on a Sunday when we're thinking about the Monday Quote! So here, from his column about Richard Worth yesterday, a few paragraphs of vintage Ralston:

Sex is the greatest accelerant in political stories. Tossing bonking allegations into a story from Parliament is like throwing petrol on a fire: stand well clear because there is likely to be collateral damage.

So it is with former MP Richard Worth. Worth's political career imploded spectacularly but he wasn't the only casualty. All involved suffered. Neelam Choudary, the Labour Party activist who claimed Worth sent her allegedly saucy texts, was soon unmasked publicly and the somewhat chequered business background of Choudary and her husband was exposed.

Labour Leader Phil Goff had the whole affair explode in his face and he remains tainted by National's counter-allegations of dirty tricks by Labour.