The vicar of Holy Trinity Church in Glen Innes, David Robinson, gives his personal view. You may agree or disagree.

“After intense pressure Barnaby Joyce has resigned. I’m sure this news will divide opinion in our town.

“Was his affair a private matter? Or did it so undermine his character that it should have been made public much earlier? Was there misuse of his parliamentary entitlements in the aftermath of his affair? Or is he the victim of the politicking of others, torn down before answers to such questions could be established.

“My sense from conversations and social media is that there are pretty mixed feelings on these questions in our town. I’m not sure exactly how I feel about the whole drama but I will be very interested to see how our electorate responds to him at the polls whenever that opportunity comes.

“However I suspect that whatever our reaction to Barnaby himself, many of us would feel let down by our political system. That is nothing new of course, rather it’s something that we’ve come to expect. Our cynicism is pretty well grounded. Politicians often seem to put personal advancement before public interest, will make promises they really seem to never intend to keep and are too often found out engaging in questionable behaviour.

“One of the things that made Barnaby Joyce so refreshing was that he seemed to be a man who spoke his mind and followed through. He even crossed the floor 28 times to vote against his own party. Yet Barnaby has resigned his leadership. Whether he was the victim of his own action or of opportunistic opposition parties, we have been let down again.

“Failure of leadership is all around us. At work, in social clubs, in public institutions, in Churches, in families and everywhere else we might imagine. Don’t those failures make us long for leaders who won’t let us down? We want someone who is good to their word, can deliver what is promised, who will lead with true wisdom and justice.

“We want a ruler who would use their position for our good rather than their own. Where can such a ruler be found? Only in the God who gives us the air that we breath and the food that sustains us. Only in the God who gave us the beauty of nature and the pleasures we enjoy. Only in the God who would leave heaven to live among us and die for our sake.

“So yes, I am a little disillusioned right now by this whole episode, even if I’m not surprised. But I am grateful that in Jesus Christ, I have one who rules rightly and will not let me down.”