And just when you start to wonder if it is fair that Kevin Rudd should take the rap for all the bungles of his first-term government, along comes the convenient leak this week that Julia Gillard and Lindsay Tanner – half his kitchen cabinet – had nothing to do with any of it. Oh sure.

As soon as Rudd’s personal popularity shield started to fall, we began to witness the unedifying spectacle of everyone piling on and kicking a man when he’s down. As armchair psychologists pick apart his failings as a human being, and his own brother declares that looking inside his head is a “scary thought”, you get the uncomfortable feeling it’s all gone a bit too far.

For one thing, if the amateur shrinks are correct about Rudd’s “angry heart” and petty nature, and if he is returned next election, as he is still favoured to do, the rage unleashed in vengeance attacks will simply consume the government’s second term.

THREE premiers, a constant reshuffle of ministers and a change of opposition leader have cost NSW taxpayers $5.9 million in staff severance payments, says the Auditor-General, Peter Achterstraat.

In a scathing report, Mr Achterstraat said on average one in three government staff left their job each year, and 60 per cent of them received generous termination payments.

An audit found 147 media and policy advisers, assistants and chiefs of staff had been terminated from July 2006 to December 2009, with an average payout of $40,200. Another 110 resigned.

Although the redundancy packages were generally larger than those for staff in other states and the Commonwealth, all but two were within the government’s guidelines for ”special temporary employees”.

Mr Achterstraat was highly critical of the payouts to two senior advisers who left with a combined total of $235,000 – $177,800 more than under the guidelines.