And yet, that's exactly what Ann Sudmalis says she did when signing her name underneath a petition stating she would vote against her own party at the next state election.

The Member for Gilmore says she thought the inflammatory anti-merger petition – which is now being used by Liberal Party members as a reason to oust her – was simply an attendance form. This may be true, but is it really a good excuse from a federal parliamentarian?

With news this week that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is likely to send us to the polls on July 2, surely we can expect more from those we choose to represent us in Canberra.

Over the weekend, a video of Canadian PM Justin Trudeau explaining quantum computing went viral, after a journalist jokingly asked him a question on the topic while he was attending a tech event. When the photogenic PM was able to give a detailed, correct, answer on the tricky topic, the room – and subsequently the internet – erupted with a standing ovation and gushing praise. And while we certainly respect a well-spoken and intelligent answer from a top politician, isn't this type of thing something we should be able to expect from all our pollies?

After all, they stood for office, vowing to represent us in the parliament and give us a voice. We should be able to hold them to high standards. Sure – they represent a lot of people with divergent views – and they can't be experts on everything. But if they're going to go to the effort to hold a press conference, write a media release or attend an event, it can't be too hard to get a bit of a background briefing or take the time to properly get across the issue.

When Ms Sudmalis turned up to sign an “attendance form” at a public meeting, it can't have escaped her that council mergers were a contentious issue. Since late last year, there has been community uproar and outrage from politicians of all parties about the state government's plans to amalgamate Illawarra councils. Given this context, some may find it difficult to believe that Ms Sudmalis did not read what she was signing and could be forgiven for thinking she's now using the “I didn't mean to” excuse simply to get herself out of political hot water.

But, even if she didn't read the petition before signing away, does that really reflect well on our representation in Gilmore?