A bet and a perve does matter in NSW context
Well, yes, maybe, hypothetically, in theory. In practice, though, this NSW Government is such a rotting hulk of misconceived intentions and failed policies that any action by one of its ministers — no matter how unrelated it is to that person’s actual performance — is viewed by the electorate through the prism of gross government incompetence. And seen through that prism, viewing p-rn on the office computer is a hanging offence. Although, of course, all NSW ministers will be hung en masse next March in what could be the most monumental rout in mainstream Australian electoral history. |
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11 Comments
“[The] NSW Government is such a rotting hulk of misconceived intentions and failed policies…”
Please. I’m not defending the NSW Government or especially its spectacular under-performance since being returned in March 2007 but your purple statement really is beyond the pale. This is the Government that has been in office since March 2005. it delivers services to more than a third of the nation’s population and throughout it’s term gained and retained a AAA credit rating. It has returned only one or two budget deficits throughout it’s 15 year term. It reformed secondary education in the late 1990s and its school curriculum and assessment processes set the standard for current national curriculum and assessmen treforms. it provides over 1 million hospital admissions per year and, notwithstanding a few well-publicised, spectacular failures, does so with great efficiency. It suffered from the slow withdrawal of Federal Government funds in a variety fronts, like all other states.
The NSW Government is tired and lacking in new ideas. It is now mistake ridden and rudderless because most of the talent baled out before the 2007 election which no-one expected it to win and in which the Liberals so handsomely defeated themselves after doing a hatchet job on John Brogden a few months before. It’s fate remains, in my view, a compelling argument against fixed parliamentary terms possible.
Sorry, in office since March 1995.
I agree Damien, the commentariat is unable to fathom how the NSW electorate doesn’t take the hint, no matter how obvious the hint is. It seems that NSW wants a Labor government come-what-may and is prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to keep the one it has, no matter what opposition is hanging around. As we saw in the Federal Election, most Labor voters simply cannot bring themselves to vote for Liberals (ahead of Labor), they just won’t do it, even if it spites their face. Interesting case of co-dependency I reckon.
It demonstrates, yet again, that if something is repeated often enough it becomes the accepted truth regardless of facts. Uncle Rupert is very good at repeating untruths ad nauseum. And the rest of the journalistic rabble follow his lead uncritically. The commentariat have decided and the rest of us must follow.
I agree that Labor will probably be gone at the next election, and maybe deservedly so. But we know nothing of the alternative. The scary ghouls, skeletons, fundamentalists and neo-liberals have stayed in their closets for a while. Barry O’Farrell presents a non-threatening image of jolliness without policy. He should regrow his beard.
I reckon the principle problem with the NSW government is the NSW treasury and the politicians who have held the job of treasurer. Particularly Michael Costa, who has fortunately moved on to greener pastures in Uncle Rupert’s Ministry Of Truth. A change of government will not change the NSW treasury.
Dr Harvey M Tarvydas
Toxic media, toxic greedy pricks who run it.
I am a West Aussie living here (Sydney) now but as a WA medico (multi-skilled like no other in the west – probably Australia) I did more serious (get me killed serious) investigation into corruption in the WA Police than even the occasional pose-y Royal Commissioner (one exception) or the twitty coroner much less sham police investigations into themselves, that was corruption at the highest levels not the pathetic crimes regularly committed by the footsloggers and how these officials corrupt the justice departments etc. Currently I intend to put corrupt and criminal members of the Medical Board of WA behind bars (and that’s going to be a hoot of hoots forever) but NSW police since the extremely effective Woods RC are a breed apart from other police forces in Aus (nobody’s perfect but they shine in terms of decency and ability). There were 2 other Woods likes (ex-Scotland Yard corruption fighters) at the time fixing Aussie shit one of them being Federal Police Commissioner Woods.
Given the current 10th anniversary, I saw Sydney run to perfection during the Olympic games.
The bus to Bondi beach ran down Bondi Rd every 15 min but during the Games you would never count to 60 between busses till midnight.
That’s the quality effort that public servants are capable of when interfering arseholes leave them alone.
Premier Kristina Keneally deserves a chance to up grade the image of the NSW Government and get its performance pre & post her installation in front of the people honestly.
I think she hot, but more importantly, intellectually and ethically she is so good for this state.
Dr Harvey M Tarvydas
@DAMIEN - I so agree with you on the power of repetition from ‘above’. My theory on the ‘trickle down effect’ is that it is so never for wealth or money but only so very true for shit the more liquid.
@SCOTT GRANT good stuff.
I wrote elsewhere in Crikey ….. “
Why have so many Aussies listened to the crapheads and not understood the facts achieved by so many valuable Aussie public servants.
Because so many Aussies are crapheads who can be led to believe that they should pay more tax so the world’s richest foreign companies can pay less tax while they make super profits from the good ol’ Aussie people’s assets handed over to them (seems like those Aussie sorts may have descended from convicts or something). This must be the most potent and subtle way to beat the evil communists in the name of Menzies (the fight goes on). Or is there some other explanation for this Aussie mental disease that the great Aussie psychiatrists are just too impotent to diagnose.
Dr Harvey M Tarvydas
In fact any pollie that believes in (and spreads the idea) less tax for rich foreign resource companies is an unpatriotic bastard who should be arrested for treason and could be appropriately laughed at by an economics literate population as they predictably whimper … “Oh, but the investment capital availability, capital borrowings….”
Dr Harvey M Tarvydas
I am talking to myself more and more these days.
@Harvey. M Tarvydas: Kristina Kenneally is not the problem. She’s no worse than any of them…
But more broadly - I think we are watching the death of the ALP. (Possibly the Liberals too, but that’s a different issue). Why would I say that?
1) Years of unstable leadership: what did we have - Beasley, Crean, Beasley, Latham, Beasley, Rudd: stability with Rudd, but despite a good government (not a great one, but he did slow the GFC, the BER worked very well, the insulation was undone by bogans (but was a sound policy and well done). International pressures beyond his control saw the end of the ETS.
2) State governments unstable adn dying: the great Labor icons (Beattie, Rann, Carr, Bligh, et cetera) are either gone or have lost their cred (or both).
3) a tradition for Labor to split every 30-50 years or so - it’s a little overdue. Hughes in 1917, Lyons in 1931 (thanks in part to Lang), Evatt in 1956. Official factions in the 1980s probably prevented another split - the formation of the non-aligned centre.
4) An inability to govern now: what idiocy blows an unloseable election so awfully?
I suspect that there will be 2 new parties emerge - one made up from the Right, and one made up from the Left (possibly merging with the Greens…)
PS sHould have been clearer to Harvey: I agree and disagree - Kristina is not terribly good, competent or suited to the role, but the problem actually doesn’t lay with her.
Dr Harvey M Tarvydas
@SICKOFITALL - Posted Monday, 6 September 2010 at 12:36 pm
I agree with so much of your insight. The party has problems as you say and you may be anticipating very accurately but from the psychological point (communal psychology from where I like to come) the populace/population has a psychological problem. We are still a young population chasing different alliances and character ID to our ancestors and I feel an increasing separation (or maybe it’s just becoming more apparent) between our population’s and smart Europe’s population ‘wisdom psyche’ feeling seriously put off by the abject stupidity that our population is prepared to swallow whole (not counting fear mongering which is not intellectual) but maybe this is all a consequence of a toxic, psychopathic media here.
But my problem with Kristina Kenneally is simply that I find her so ‘hot’ and lovely (it’s all emotional), but I agree NSW problems are not her fault and does she have (the huge) what it will take. I am going to offer assistance.