Opposition's A Bitch, Brendon

Gerard Henderson in today's SMH remarked that conservatives don't do opposition well.

He's being a bit unfair on his team. It's not limited to the conservatives, they all struggle during the first term. What conservatives do well in opposition is never lose their 'born to rule' mentality.

This was shown all too clearly by Brendon Nelson's bleating about the lack of consultation over the content of tomorrow's "Stolen Generations" apology. Ignoring that they could have delivered the apology themselves, his attitude is particularly galling given the contempt they showed the other side when they were in power.

From where I stand, things couldn't be better. Rudd has deftly wedged the conservatives over the apology and in doing so, has probably condemned Nelson's leadership. He's already being compared to Simon Crean.

Brendon's about to learn the real pain of opposition.

Baring a Lazarus like comeback from Peter Costello, I'm going to enjoy the right wing of the Liberal Party coming to terms with promoting the only other viable leader, Malcolm Turnbull.

So much to look forward to!