West Aussies are preparing to go back to the polls for the Senate by-election in April. There are several micro-parties running in a bit of a mini-repeat of what happened federally several months ago. But they're not as colourful as that last crowd, which was memorably equated with the bar scene from Star Wars. 

One of them is a one-issue party headed by former ABC stalwarts Russell Woolf and Verity James. They have formed the Save Our ABC party. 

Hmmm. What do they mean by our ABC? Being the right-wing death beast that I am, when they say "our" I can't help but think they actually mean "their" ...

I doubt the pair will garner much support. Yes, there are some hand-wringing Labor-Green luvvies who would vote for such a hobby party, but most West Aussies are not nearly so enamoured of the national broadcaster -- and they have a much wider range of concerns anyway.

Unfortunately the official website is threadbare at the moment and doesn't outline their policies. So aside from the goal outlined by the party title it's hard to know what their plans actually are. But going on what info I have:

The name itself is hyperbolic and therefore somewhat misleading. It's a bit like the greenie favourite "save the planet". Sure, the planet has taken a battering since we humans have taken over. Still, the damage we've caused has not been as severe as that which nature itself has dished out from time to time. Example: the meteor that killed off the dinosaurs.

Trashed though it may be, Earth is not in any danger of disappearing. Even if we humans blow ourselves to oblivion then the planet will still be here. And life forms will survive and proliferate again -- albeit in more frequently mutated forms.

Same with the national broadcaster. It's not in any real risk of being lost. So how can it be saved? It is currently copping lots of justifiable criticism. But it's certainly not going to be obliterated or even -- heaven forfend -- privatized, even though there are a few Liberal pollies, and many conservatives, who would like to see this happen. 

So what inspired them to go on this mercy dash to save this gravely threatened national icon?

Woolf, who began with the ABC in 1997 and left in 2013, said he had been concerned by repeated comments by the Prime Minister about the ABC and claims it was "un-Australian" and "unfair".

"I think Australians generally agree that the ABC is well respected, independent, necessary, effective and reliable," Woolf told WAtoday.com.au this morning after lodging his nomination.

So it's Abbott's fault, yet again!

But really, his comments about it being un-Australian and unfair were certainly not unreasonable. They were also fairly mild. And he's certainly earned the the right to say those things. He's the PM remember.

Woolf cites that other favourite fall-back of the ABC luvvie: "independence".

Independent? Ha! Drearily right-on you mean ... 

Whenever ABC supporters say they want to maintain its independence, they're really saying they don't want to be held to account for its obvious, flagrant, relentless left-wing bias. 

Speaking of left-wing: I suspect that Woolf, like so many lefties these days, is a tad ashamed of the word and therefore avoids using it. Instead, he purports to be non-aligned.

"I'm not aligned to any party and I have opinions that sway across party lines that are generally based on what's good for WA and West Australians, common sense and compassion."

Well, that may be technically correct if by "aligned" you mean actively involved with a mainstream party. But I'm willing to bet Woolf is a habitual Labor or Greens voter. 

There's that other tell-tale word: compassion. 

Now I'm gonna hazard a wild guess here. But I think that's code for an open borders policy; the result of misguided moral posturing that resulted in over 1000 drownings under Gillard and Rudd. 

I'd love to be proved wrong. But I don't think I will be. 

That said, I certainly do admire both of them for actually running in the by-election. They're asking for the public's verdict on their agenda, which is way more courageous than their peers at the ABC, who lack the the balls to run for office yet still seek to influence politics in a relentless, devious and cowardly manner.