[Peetwo]

The trouble with having a Muppet as a Minister?

From over on the Senate Estimates thread - 

But enough of Watt, how about the current crop of Dept stooges supposedly headed up by the mumbling, condescending Acting Secretary Miss (roll-my-eyes) Spence? - Watch:

 1st Senator Sic'em'REX - All over them... 

2nd Sen Gallagher - trained killer... 

...Except for the adept Mr McFixit the rest were a complete and utter rabble, perhaps the fact there is no Minister with any balls at the helm is having a profound effect? And what is it with there not being a replacement Secretary? I would of thought the Mandarin of the Infrastructure Dept would of been one of the most plum jobs in Can'tberra, so how come it hasn't been filled??  

From that it would seem that not only is there a departmental leadership vacuum but having a Muppet for a Crown Minister is also having a telling effect on our democratic processes. Couple that with the politically paranoid Laborial (bi-partisan) approach to aviation safety and we begin to understand why it is we have a 30+ year roadblock to any real world commonsense reform to both the regulator and the regulations...  

Hitch perfectly highlight this roadblock to democracy in his belated LMH: 

...Last Thursday the senate voted down the Centre Alliance's disallowance motion on CASA's Angel Flight restrictions. Ever since the AGAA summit in Wagga Wagga last year the coalition and opposition has said they will take a bipartisan approach to aviation safety and this vote showed that in action: they banded together to make sure commonsense was beaten down. It was only Nationals Senator Susan McDonald who crossed the floor to vote with the independents, but it needs to be pointed out that the other three Nationals senators didn't stick their hands up for either side. Missing also were some other senators who have history of taking up the cudgels for GA. So, did all these absentees just not vote or were they not in the senate that day? Here's some scurrilous speculation to muse about over coffee. Did those senators prefer to completely abstain over the vote rather than cross the floor and be scalded by the steam coming out of their Leaders' ears? With the who-cares-about-aviation majority from both the left and the right obeying those who pre-selected them, aviation needed greater support from those on the major parties that understand the truth. The loss of this vote gives the impression that only the "lunatic fringe" cares about aviation. The real story is that aviation also has supporters on the lunatic left and the lunatic right; they were just missing on the day...

&..

...Australia has become a nation of secrets, with bureaucratic agencies acting as sentinels to protect themselves and the public images of the politicians. Using the excuse of "security", journalists all over the country are facing a censorship campaign from the government not seen at this level since the end of the Second World War. Even the Freedom of Information Act is being abused as more and more agencies are using obscure excuses allowed in the legislation to refuse to disclose information. I was recently exposed to this as CASA redacted a heap of information in documents supplied to Glen Buckley in his battle with the regulator. In fact, the documents were 100% redacted because CASA considered them subject to legal privilege. This is a very thin excuse designed, I believe, to limit embarrassment to CASA. Apparently it is far more important that we do that than adhere to one of the keystones of democracy: the right of the people to know what there elected representatives and the paid bureaucrats are really doing...

   
Hmm...very well said Hitch and choc frog is in the mail -   

This brings me to the following Oz article which perhaps the political elite Federal Laborial's might pay more attention to than both the 5th estate and their silent majority of constituents...       

Leaders told to lead and stop passing the buck to bureaucrats



Prime Minister Scott Morrison with Jeff Kennett. Picture: Getty images
EXCLUSIVE
GEOFF CHAMBERS
FEDERAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
@Chambersgc
12:00AM OCTOBER 14, 2019
26 COMMENTS

Jeff Kennett and Campbell Newman have called on governments to wrest back control from bureaucrats and take firm action on major decisions, as it emerged that the Morrison government had commissioned and endorsed 72 reviews in the past year.

Analysis of reviews and inquiries supported by the federal government since September last year reveals a range of decisions deferred to departments, agencies and commissions for consideration.

While the number of reviews fall short of the 490 reviews by the Rudd-Gillard governments, there has been public pushback against state leaders, including former NSW premier Barry O’Farrell and Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, over their penchant for reviews.

Anthony Albanese has also supported reviews into Labor’s election loss and a probe into the NSW Labor Party office.

On key issues, the government has used reviews to delay decisions, including its review of religious exemptions in anti-discrimination legislation. Attorney-General Christian Porter pushed back delivery of the final report by the Australian Law Reform Commission until December next year.

The list of reviews, some of which have been resolved, include committee inquiries, party reviews and joint reviews with other jurisdictions, and is dominated by probes into the financial system and regulators.
Mr Kennett, a former Victorian premier who implemented major projects and reforms during his seven years in office, said he had a general “dislike and distaste for inquiries and reviews”.

“They have become fashionable, and have in part been used for delaying tactics across the board,” he told The Australian. “It has always been my view that governments were elected to govern and have around them people in the public service independent enough to be able to provide good advice so that governments can make decisions themselves.

“I’m not saying all inquiries are bad. There are reasons to review what’s happening in the community. But I would say 90 per cent of inquiries are simply an excuse by ministers and governments of all political persuasions to fail in exercising their responsibility and passing the buck to bureaucrats and consultants.”

Mr Kennett said there were exceptions, such as the royal commission into child abuse, and that some reviews had “merit and are required”. “The issue is that governments need to understand that once they set up certain inquiries, there will be findings that will mean they must adopt recommendations, and this usually requires extra funds,” he said.

Mr Kennett said it was crucial inquiries be “independent” and have a “purpose” to deliver real ­action. 
“These inquiries are increasingly being used by politicians — regardless of which political side they are on — to not accept responsibility in working with the public service to make decisions,” he said.

Mr Kennett took a shot at regulators for failing to enforce key sectors, including aged care.

Mr Newman — the former Queensland premier who oversaw the transformation of Brisbane’s road network as lord mayor — said governments needed to take charge of bureaucrats.

On the issues of dams, he said action must be taken to overhaul environment laws to ensure water infrastructure could be delivered. He said he wasn’t opposed to reviews but it was crucial for all governments to present vision and drive results. “The bureaucrats work for them. Australians will always back in governments that deliver. They want action. They want things to be done,” Mr Newman said. “It’s time for all politicians to ­realise they need to take control of the bureaucracy because they’ve been elected to run a government and give clear direction to public servants and demand action.”

A Morrison government spokesman said it was “getting on with the job of finding solutions to the problems Australians face. “We’re already acting on all of the reviews we’ve commissioned that have reported back to us tackling everything from ensuring our skills and TAFE sector is helping to boost education outcomes, through to lowering energy costs and the way we support our farmers,”he said.

“We won’t be lectured by Anthony Albanese, who was a frontbencher in the Labor governments that commissioned nearly 500 reviews … He was part of a government that was so starved of ideas for our country they outsourced the job to Kevin Rudd’s 2020 talkfest summit.” The Opposition Leader said the high number of reviews reflected a “do-nothing government with no plan for Australia”. “Whenever Scott Morrison encounters a problem, he gives it the mirror treatment — he looks into it rather than taking genuine ­action,” Mr Albanese told The Australian.

Hint less of this...

 

....and more of this - 

Senator Susan McDonald
@SenMcDonald

Yesterday I voted against new rules being imposed by CASA on charities like Angel Flight. The General Aviation sector is drowning under regulation that is not leading to safer outcomes. Regional Australia needs aviation and I am going in to bat for more practical regulation.

And for a Duck's sake get rid of the Muppet miniscule...


MTF...P2