Belford Parrott told his radio audience on September 23 that US Congress had approved a $700 billion bailout package, before the draft legislation was prepared (and a week before it was rejected the first time). Mr Parrott also told his listeners that day that Michael Costa's resignation from State Parliament was a "tragedy for good governance in New South Wales".

The Accurate One today had his contract with Sydney radio station 2GB renewed through to June 2013. Part of the deal included the cancellation of more than 11 million options held by the Parrott group of companies in Macquarie Radio Network (owners of 2GB) since he was first poached from 2UE in 2002, paid out at 40 cents per option, replaced by the issue of 4 million options to the Parrott valid for the next four years.

Which means that the most overrated radio jock in Sydney's history (and that's one big statement) gets four and a half million Pacific Pesos upfront.

(It's subject to shareholder approval, but hey.)

Tis the season of excessive stock renumeration packages, fa la la la la....

Friday was arguably the most tumultuous day in New South Wales politics since Jack Lang was sacked on May 13, 1932. Firstly Michael Costa was axed as State Treasurer by Premier Morris Iemma, then Iemma himself resigned after his attempt to reshuffle cabinet was nixed by his caucus.

And all this happened two days after deputy premier John Watkins resigned from parliament to become CEO of Alzheimers Australia.

Costa's dumping was long overdue. A cross between Mussolini, Dick Cheney, and an out-of-control steamroller, Costa had become a destructive influence no longer willing to abide by Labor Party policy and obsessed with his idea of "economic reform". Only collective wimpishness had stopped the ALP from expelling him (though, curiously, he was expelled from the ALP in the early 1980's for simultaneously being a member of the Socialist Workers Party... he has moved a long way to the Right since then).

But it was his ferocious temper, possibly a by-product of his (treated) bipolar disorder, that brought him undone, and it seems that a slanging match with Watkins earlier this week was the catalyst for the popular, if soft, deputy premier finally drawing stumps.

Iemma's departure was inevitable, if coming a little sooner than expected. His political style was much like that of a windsock, but on issues where he held firm (such as electricity privatisation), he was the George W Bush to Costa's Dick Cheney. It was on the privatisation issue that he was behaving in an increasingly dictatorial manner, ignoring popular opinion, party policy, and Parliamentary decision. A believer in government by spin, things reached the level of utterly bizarre when he hired a slew of Channel Nine journalists to join his media unit.

Nathan Rees is the new premier, having been elected to State parliament in March 2007! He looked guardedly promising when interviewed on Stateline last night, and it's clear that he has no time for Costa, saying at one stage "he [Costa] brought down two premiers [Bob Carr and Morris Iemma] and he's not going to bring down a third".

Rees is expected to name his new cabinet on Monday. As well as the removal of Michael Costa, it is essential that he moves Frank Sartor from the Planning ministry. If he axes Reba Maugher and Joe Tripodi, that will be a welcome bonus.

Counting down the three outstanding political quotes of the past week:

Number Three:

"...there are 350 million people in India who are classified as middle class. That's bigger than America. Their middle class is larger than our entire population."

- George Walker Bush, assigning blame for the global food shortage, 1.5.08

Michael Costa's bizarre and geopolitically ignorant response to a question in State Parliament on Tuesday about Chinese investment in New South Wales was not the end of that particular matter.

Yesterday's Sydney Morning Herald reported that Costa issued a press release on Wednesday offering more, er, information in response to MLC John Kaye's inquisitiveness of the day before.

You don't have to be a rocket surgeon, or even a brain scientist, to understand the People Republic of China's role in that Maoist Johnny Howard's strong economic management of Australia. And you might even be aware of the Chinese government's new-found interest in foreign corporate investment. However, the New South Wales Government's leading parliamentary economist, treasurer Michael Costa, is none of the above.