The Sydney Morning Herald reported this morning that the NSW Labor Government is planning another attempt to punish the state’s Director of Public Prosecutions Nicholas Cowdery QC for daring to assert the independence of his position.

Having failed to bluff Mr Cowdery with cutting the finances available to him, the new plan is to legislate to remove the lifelong tenure enjoyed by the DPP. The Herald report says that Attorney-General John Hatzistergos soon will take to Cabinet a proposal to limit the DPP to a fixed term appointment.

The only thing standing in the way of this blatant attempt to get rid of an independent and impartial public servant is the NSW Legislative Council. In the upper house Labor has only 19 of the 42 members.