Mazed, confounded and impotent.
Pub night; and a half finished cryptic crossword puzzle lay in the middle of the table; “tough one today” said the wizard, and as I placed the round on the table, he gave me 'the look' - a subtle challenge to fill in some of the vacant squares. I knocked the top off my pint, took a quick look at the unmarked clues; shook my head and passed the page back. An unremarkable story, but the act set me to thinking about the upcoming Senate Estimates. So, I asked the question; one word from each to describe the Senators' 'efforts' in the proceedings. Those words gave me the title for the SBG, and Golly, they ring true. I thought it worth a twiddle.....
“Those who had designed the maze had done so for their own benefit and for their own purposes.”
Mazed - There are (IMO) but two objectives to a maze; one to find the center, the beating heart of the beast; then, find your way out. Our Senators are hopelessly lost within a truly fearsome, cunningly constructed maze; there are lost souls within Hades who have more chance of winning clear. At least, in Hell they don't keep moving the bloody fences; setting traps or blind alleys which wear down the hapless wanderer. Nope: the cleverly constructed departmental mazes are constantly shifting, ever changing to prevent any hope of arriving at the center.
Confounded.
"Lawyers Are: Those whose interests and abilities lie in perverting, confounding and eluding the law.”
It seems a little unfair to blame the lawyers for confounding an Estimates committee; indeed, they do little more than cast the will of the 'client' into a form which 'satisfies' the law. A department head wants to achieve Plan A – the legal eagle will make sure that there is adequate wriggle room and enough shall we call it 'deniability' for the higher ups to feel comfy with. But, a Committee may well end up (as seen many times) completely neutered by and prevented from achieving a 'result' simply because the system is against any change it did not instigate (often at Ministerial directive) nor do they have the time, money and tools to ensure a result. Watch the Estimates video, study the Senators faces. They are smart enough to recognise a 'hiding to nothing' when they see it.
Impotent.
“Do not first announce action, and then, when you are unable to take action, withdraw, because you will only find yourself in the same position as now, plus a public and humiliating confession of impotence.”
There, in a much more elegant nutshell than I could ever manage; the Senators dilemma. Despite the penetrating questions, the braying and the barking – can anyone from the last decade of Estimates table any worthwhile 'change'? Just one would do; Alas. ASA, ATSB CASA – massive budgets met by the public; all top heavy, huge salaries, all charge exorbitant fees, all have a cast and crew ensconced in plush offices, many benefits; and, they have with full departmental co-operation constructed a maze of such impenetrable complexity and strength, with many dangerous pitfalls and traps that to navigate the thing to a conclusion of zero benefit to any outside of their cunning design is a lost cause.
“The confounding of all right and wrong, in wild fury, has averted from us the gracious favor of the gods.”
Aye well – so much for my twiddles; the stable is tidy, animals fed, watered and spread over the cool stone floor. Time to snuff out the lamps, steal a snack and toddle off to bed.
Selah -.-
Pub night; and a half finished cryptic crossword puzzle lay in the middle of the table; “tough one today” said the wizard, and as I placed the round on the table, he gave me 'the look' - a subtle challenge to fill in some of the vacant squares. I knocked the top off my pint, took a quick look at the unmarked clues; shook my head and passed the page back. An unremarkable story, but the act set me to thinking about the upcoming Senate Estimates. So, I asked the question; one word from each to describe the Senators' 'efforts' in the proceedings. Those words gave me the title for the SBG, and Golly, they ring true. I thought it worth a twiddle.....
“Those who had designed the maze had done so for their own benefit and for their own purposes.”
Mazed - There are (IMO) but two objectives to a maze; one to find the center, the beating heart of the beast; then, find your way out. Our Senators are hopelessly lost within a truly fearsome, cunningly constructed maze; there are lost souls within Hades who have more chance of winning clear. At least, in Hell they don't keep moving the bloody fences; setting traps or blind alleys which wear down the hapless wanderer. Nope: the cleverly constructed departmental mazes are constantly shifting, ever changing to prevent any hope of arriving at the center.
Confounded.
"Lawyers Are: Those whose interests and abilities lie in perverting, confounding and eluding the law.”
It seems a little unfair to blame the lawyers for confounding an Estimates committee; indeed, they do little more than cast the will of the 'client' into a form which 'satisfies' the law. A department head wants to achieve Plan A – the legal eagle will make sure that there is adequate wriggle room and enough shall we call it 'deniability' for the higher ups to feel comfy with. But, a Committee may well end up (as seen many times) completely neutered by and prevented from achieving a 'result' simply because the system is against any change it did not instigate (often at Ministerial directive) nor do they have the time, money and tools to ensure a result. Watch the Estimates video, study the Senators faces. They are smart enough to recognise a 'hiding to nothing' when they see it.
Impotent.
“Do not first announce action, and then, when you are unable to take action, withdraw, because you will only find yourself in the same position as now, plus a public and humiliating confession of impotence.”
There, in a much more elegant nutshell than I could ever manage; the Senators dilemma. Despite the penetrating questions, the braying and the barking – can anyone from the last decade of Estimates table any worthwhile 'change'? Just one would do; Alas. ASA, ATSB CASA – massive budgets met by the public; all top heavy, huge salaries, all charge exorbitant fees, all have a cast and crew ensconced in plush offices, many benefits; and, they have with full departmental co-operation constructed a maze of such impenetrable complexity and strength, with many dangerous pitfalls and traps that to navigate the thing to a conclusion of zero benefit to any outside of their cunning design is a lost cause.
“The confounding of all right and wrong, in wild fury, has averted from us the gracious favor of the gods.”
Aye well – so much for my twiddles; the stable is tidy, animals fed, watered and spread over the cool stone floor. Time to snuff out the lamps, steal a snack and toddle off to bed.
Selah -.-