After literally months of planning, opposition leader (sic) Brendan Nelson has hit the road with an overnight truck driver as a shameless media stunt to paint him as “in touch” to get in touch with the real issues that face ordinary people.

Federal Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson says all decision-makers should spend 12 hours in a truck to understand the issues long-distance drivers face.

Dr Nelson travelled from Melbourne to Dubbo on Saturday with truck driver Rod Hannifey.

Dr Nelson says the 12-hour journey opened his eyes to the economic pressures facing drivers.

“The people who make the laws that affect the trucking industry don’t actually have to live them,” he said.

What complete and total shite. According to Dr Bren-doc’s logic, politicians can’t make informed decisions about anything without first experiencing it. I look forward to Nelson spending a night in a homeless shelter so he can formulate homeless policy, injecting heroin so he can formulate drugs policy, having a baby so he can formulate maternity policy, and turning tricks on the street so he can formulate sex trade policy.

Brendan Nelson’s Big Truck Adventure had one objective: this photo.

This is the “before snorting speed” shot. The “after snorting speed” shot has been suppressed by Liberal Party spin doctors.

Perhaps the most insightful piece of information to come out of the whole exercise is this.

Dr Nelson spent the night in the truck and says it is the best night’s sleep he has had in a week.

Those must’ve been some pretty good downers he took at the end of the trip to counteract the speed.