‘Oblivious’ nature eventually led to Shatter falling on his sword

In one of his first public comments after he was appointed justice minister in March 2011, Alan Shatter had a blast at judges.

Judges, he said, were sometimes “oblivious” to the impact of crimes on the daily lives of individuals.

It was his own “oblivious” nature — how he interacted with people, his difficulty in listening to them, his dismissiveness and sense of superiority that led to his undoing.