Once again, as the millennium year came to a close, Queensland politicians demonstrated they had not lost the talent for entertaining the nation. Not content with producing the One Nation whirlwind between two successive minority governments, politics in Queensland saw the Labor party inflict major damage upon itself as evidence of electoral rorting began to emerge. With Labor’s credibility in tatters, Premier Peter Beattie ended the year hounding electoral rorters from his own party, losing his Deputy Premier and another backbencher in the process and with clouds hanging over other Labor members associated with the Australian Workers Union faction. The grubby revelations of skulduggery and forgery that provided much media entertainment, were brought on by factional infighting and pay-back politics mainly inside the AWU faction. For Labor, the one bright note from the whole incident was the unshakeable personal standing of Beattie (remaining around 58 per cent throughout the crisis), which paradoxically appeared to be enhanced by his uncompromising “clean out the rorters” stance.