PROTEST votes against mainline parties are becoming something of a norm in Australian politics but in politics as in life itself it's often good advice to 'be careful what you wish for'.
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Fringe parties feed on perceived neglect and on the misery of drought, flood and fire.
They can promise much but can deliver little unless their vote is needed as a bargaining chip.
In relatively recent history the late Peter Andren was a popular independent Member for Calare and the first to shock the establishment by clean sheeting the polling booths time and again.
It was an impressive electoral performance by any standard and a reflection of community unrest.
But he was largely not needed by the government of the day and when a worrying issue arose at the then Small Arms Factory the then Minister for something or other, Peter Reith, more than a little bluntly told the Mercury "íf you want help from the government you should have elected a government Member'".
Nice, but really an inconvenient truth; political parties in power have no inclination to make their opponents look good.
Mopping up
THE 'Shooters' may be the current darlings of the disgruntled bush but they're a bit tardy at tidying up after themselves.
A failed Bathurst hopeful has been continuing to smile down from telegraph poles around Lithgow more than a week after the rush for Macquarie Street.
Party time
A couple of significant anniversaries are in the diary. Later this month Ironfest will celebrate 20 years on the local calendar. It's come a long way from a simple sidewalk sale in Main Street to become the region's biggest annual fancy dress carnival.
Then on October 18 it will be a true milestone - 150 years since the westward advance of the railway reached Bowenfels, which became Lithgow's first passenger station (and an interchange for Cobb and Co coaches).
Bowenfels station had its moment of fame in 1954 when the royal party alighted there at the start of Queen Elizabeth's visit to Lithgow. The last trains stopped there in 1975 and these days the heritage importance of this striking building is sadly neglected by railway authorities and it has had no use since the Visitor Centre relocated years ago.
Early start
WHEN a freak weather front brought Mid Winter to the Lithgow region in Mid Autumn at the weekend it was sadly a sign of things to come. Sydney had its coldest March day in 11 years but it was positively sub tropical compared to Lithgow where the wind chill was registering just one degree early on Saturday evening after a day of single digit readings.
