It’s the end of the year, which means things tend to be a lot looser than usual and emotions can run high.

It’s never unusual for commentators and journalists to receive messages from those they are analysing, opining and reporting about, but it tends to ramp up as the parliamentary year draws to a close.

The end of the year means nothing but a calendar flip, but the idea of flopping over a mental full stop, even if nothing actually stops, seems to appeal to politicians, in particular. It also means that they tend to take things a little more personally than usual. Perhaps we all do.

At the very least, I was more amused than usual at receiving two messages, almost simultaneously, from both Labor and Liberal figures essentially asking why I was being so “mean” about their side of politics.

These messages appeared at the same time as Carly Simon was singing You’re so vain in my ear (I have the musical taste of a boomer who lived in a van, dodged the draft and got lost at Woodstock for a few years before ending up in Laurel Canyon), which made it more amusing, at the time. Yes, you probably DO think this column is about you.

It says something about the state of politics in Australia when both parties feel under attack. To which, as always, the response has to be – imagine how their constituents feel.

The Liberals are........

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