From the Prime Minister down, senior Liberals have brought themselves and their party, and the parliament, into disrepute, writes Neil Brown.

The daily struggles to defend John Howard and his government are becoming increasingly hard. This is a monumental shift for someone like me who has long supported Howard for promoting what I assumed was the conservative cause. Now I am not so sure.

The luke-warm endorsement that the Attorney-General, Daryl Williams, gave the judge was very disappointing and extremely disturbing ... For some eccentric reason, he seems to think his role is to go with the politics, in this case the sleazy politics, rather than with the public interest of maintaining confidence in judges and the courts. I also grow increasingly concerned at the government's growing lack of touch and competence.

In the first place, following the intricacies of the “kids overboard” issue and the lantana-like weavings and manoeuvrings of the government was like trying to make sense of Balkan politics ... Now, after a few side excursions past the Governor-General, Dr Wooldridge and the Treasurer's roulette wheel, we have to try to explain the latest scandal. It is impossible to defend.

My last disappointment is a particularly sad one. The Treasurer, Peter Costello, no doubt thought it was clever politics to keep away from the Kirby issue. But in reality he must now be seen by some people in the Liberal Party as having stood silent while the issue was running, while a decent man was denigrated, while the Liberal Party was muckraking and the parliament slipped further into disrepute. This can scarcely enhance his leadership chances in the party.

I joined the Liberal Party when I was 15, but let my subscription lapse last year. It is a matter of great regret that I am struggling to find a reason to rejoin.