By-elections have a reputation for throwing up the ridiculous or sublime.Michael Organ's unlikely by-election victory in 2002, to become the first Greens MP elected to the House of Representatives, is a case in point.Labor's Sharon Bird went on to restore the status quo at the subsequent federal election.There will be no state-based parallels next March, after the crushing defeat of Labor in the weekend's Penrith by-election.Premier Kristina Keneally and party leaders had been predicting a major defeat in the by-election, but no-one in their wildest dreams believed it would be 25 per cent - the biggest swing in Australian political history.The message for her scandal-ridden government is clear.So too, for the Illawarra's five Labor MPs, who can expect to face some serious electoral challenges in next year's ballot.However, the Coalition might also want to ponder a groundswell of community anger over cynical, big-party politics.The growing audiences at corruption fighter John Hatton's public speaking engagements, like the one in Wollongong tonight, may herald a new political force come next March.
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