Check out Michael Pelly's "Island Sojourn" article in today's Australian, what a hoot!
Check out the companion expose here on the Minister's weird lobbying last month to push through the NSW Trustee and Guardian bill. Weird deals, a stalemate in the Legislative Council, and maybe some bully-boy tactics behind the scenes! Priceless stuff!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Director of Public Prosecutions (Again)
Yesterday I drew attention to the problem the Director of Public Prosecutions faces with a shortage of funds and hence of staff.
Today the Sydney Morning Herald has run with the story (click here). The Herald quotes Nicholas Cowdery (DPP) as stating bluntly:
"The Government commonly responds to these crises by shooting the messenger, in this case, me ... Anything to take attention away from the truth: which is that it has not accorded high enough priority in its spendingto this essential function of government ... This is not a Newcastle or Hunter problem, it is statewide."
The Herald article gives space for the usual obfuscating spin from a departmental spokesperson defending the Minister and typecasting the DPP in a bad light. The article states:
"The Government expected the DPP to manage its budget efficiently to maintain services around the state 'at all times.'" The spin also trots out the rubbish details of how the mini budget provided cash so as to employ 14 solicitors. Yesterday I already pointed out the idiocy of the mini-budget as a band-aid solution to a gaping wound.
The rest of this spin is so pathetic it is brimming with weasel words. Of course the DPP manages its budget and does so on the smell of an empty ledger. That of course is precisely the problem highlighted by Nicholas Cowdery. The word "efficiency" simply acts as an in-house cipher that is really referring to dire circumstances: more and more work devolves onto the shoulders of fewer employees. The entire network for the DPP, and thence the whole Attorney General's Department, is so fragile because every specific part that makes up the whole is stretched to the extreme limit. This means that everyone works in crisis conditions, works longer hours than they are actually remunerated for, and they are expected to maintain optimum services. The problem is not so much the structures or work-flow processes at the DPP. The problem does not arise from the staff.
The problem is the idiotic corporate culture that comes from the top-down that spews out meaningless jargon as if it conveys profound meaning. The problem is the public sector is in crisis because of the unrealistic expectations the Government has. The problem reflects on the incompetent mismanagement of NSW over many years. The extravagant and wasteful spending of the public purse by the Government. As the debt is large and the coffers are empty, these calls for "efficiency" are just a bureaucrat's mascara designed to deflect attention away from the real problem.
Today the Sydney Morning Herald has run with the story (click here). The Herald quotes Nicholas Cowdery (DPP) as stating bluntly:
"The Government commonly responds to these crises by shooting the messenger, in this case, me ... Anything to take attention away from the truth: which is that it has not accorded high enough priority in its spendingto this essential function of government ... This is not a Newcastle or Hunter problem, it is statewide."
The Herald article gives space for the usual obfuscating spin from a departmental spokesperson defending the Minister and typecasting the DPP in a bad light. The article states:
"The Government expected the DPP to manage its budget efficiently to maintain services around the state 'at all times.'" The spin also trots out the rubbish details of how the mini budget provided cash so as to employ 14 solicitors. Yesterday I already pointed out the idiocy of the mini-budget as a band-aid solution to a gaping wound.
The rest of this spin is so pathetic it is brimming with weasel words. Of course the DPP manages its budget and does so on the smell of an empty ledger. That of course is precisely the problem highlighted by Nicholas Cowdery. The word "efficiency" simply acts as an in-house cipher that is really referring to dire circumstances: more and more work devolves onto the shoulders of fewer employees. The entire network for the DPP, and thence the whole Attorney General's Department, is so fragile because every specific part that makes up the whole is stretched to the extreme limit. This means that everyone works in crisis conditions, works longer hours than they are actually remunerated for, and they are expected to maintain optimum services. The problem is not so much the structures or work-flow processes at the DPP. The problem does not arise from the staff.
The problem is the idiotic corporate culture that comes from the top-down that spews out meaningless jargon as if it conveys profound meaning. The problem is the public sector is in crisis because of the unrealistic expectations the Government has. The problem reflects on the incompetent mismanagement of NSW over many years. The extravagant and wasteful spending of the public purse by the Government. As the debt is large and the coffers are empty, these calls for "efficiency" are just a bureaucrat's mascara designed to deflect attention away from the real problem.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
East Maitland Court, the AG & DPP
It is hardly earth-shattering news to hear that the Director of Public Prosecutions in NSW is asked to fulfil extraordinary tasks while simultaneously being under-resourced.
The 2007-08 Annual Report of the DPP made that point very clear when the Director Nicholas Cowdery (who has to be rated as one of the most intelligent and lively legal minds in NSW) stated:
"Budget cuts, in bureaucratic language, are described as 'efficiency improvement dividends' and therein lies a clue to the way they are to be addressed. When required to develop an Efficiency Improvement Plan the Office was unable to identify any reductions in expenditure that would not have the effects of transferring work and shifting costs elsewhere. As a demand-driven agency working to capacity the Office has no 'fat' to cut when requirements of this kind are made."
The "illustrious" 2008 mini-budget was supposed to allow for the employment of 14 extra solicitors for a period of two years commencing 1 January 2009. Sounds like a band-aid measure to cover over a gaping wound.
Now a minor skirmish is erupting in East Maitland as there are simply not enough Crown Prosecutors available to appear in court. Of course in comes the spin that there is really not a problem at all.
What on earth is the NSW Attorney General Mr Hatzistergos and his Director General Mr Glanfield doing to the Attorney General's Department? Why is there so much spin injected into the press to persuade the public that this department is in ship-shape condition? Perhaps it is time that the Minister and his Director General were called to account for their administrative decisions.
The 2007-08 Annual Report of the DPP made that point very clear when the Director Nicholas Cowdery (who has to be rated as one of the most intelligent and lively legal minds in NSW) stated:
"Budget cuts, in bureaucratic language, are described as 'efficiency improvement dividends' and therein lies a clue to the way they are to be addressed. When required to develop an Efficiency Improvement Plan the Office was unable to identify any reductions in expenditure that would not have the effects of transferring work and shifting costs elsewhere. As a demand-driven agency working to capacity the Office has no 'fat' to cut when requirements of this kind are made."
The "illustrious" 2008 mini-budget was supposed to allow for the employment of 14 extra solicitors for a period of two years commencing 1 January 2009. Sounds like a band-aid measure to cover over a gaping wound.
Now a minor skirmish is erupting in East Maitland as there are simply not enough Crown Prosecutors available to appear in court. Of course in comes the spin that there is really not a problem at all.
What on earth is the NSW Attorney General Mr Hatzistergos and his Director General Mr Glanfield doing to the Attorney General's Department? Why is there so much spin injected into the press to persuade the public that this department is in ship-shape condition? Perhaps it is time that the Minister and his Director General were called to account for their administrative decisions.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Public Trustee NSW Merger Under Fire
Check this intriguing commentary on the state of NSW politics and the Attorney General's Department. The financial journalist Tony Boyd has delivered a stinging commentary on the bizarre wheeling and dealing that led to the amalgamation of the Public Trustee NSW and Office of Protective Commissioner in June 2009. The new organisation is called the NSW Trustee and Guardian.
Boyd questions the wisdom of the merger, doubts its future financial viability and calls into question the whole rationale behind the merger. So a serving of criticism is dished up to NSW Attorney General John Hatzistergos for the rushed nature in which legislation was prepared and pushed through the Parliament in the closing days of June.
Boyd likens the merger to short-term raids by corporations that seek to prop themselves up when under pressure. See the whole piece here.
Boyd questions the wisdom of the merger, doubts its future financial viability and calls into question the whole rationale behind the merger. So a serving of criticism is dished up to NSW Attorney General John Hatzistergos for the rushed nature in which legislation was prepared and pushed through the Parliament in the closing days of June.
Boyd likens the merger to short-term raids by corporations that seek to prop themselves up when under pressure. See the whole piece here.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
"What's My Line" Inspiration
A classic American game-show was What's My Line where a 4 member panel had to guess the occupation of various guests.
One of the sharpest and wittiest American comedians was Groucho Marx. Groucho appeared on the show a few times. On one occasion he was a panel member. The first mystery guest was a "jail warden" from New Jersey whose physical appearance was uncannily similar to that of the USSR's president Nikita Krushchev. At the time that the Groucho episode was broadcast Krushchev was visiting the USA.
When it was Groucho's turn to pose a question to the Krushchev lookalike he asked (see the youtube clip):
"Are you a corrupt politician - or am I being redundant?"
Here we will have the audacity to explore this question:
"Are the ministers of the NSW State Government confused and clueless about how to administer the state - or are we merely being redundant?"
One of the sharpest and wittiest American comedians was Groucho Marx. Groucho appeared on the show a few times. On one occasion he was a panel member. The first mystery guest was a "jail warden" from New Jersey whose physical appearance was uncannily similar to that of the USSR's president Nikita Krushchev. At the time that the Groucho episode was broadcast Krushchev was visiting the USA.
When it was Groucho's turn to pose a question to the Krushchev lookalike he asked (see the youtube clip):
"Are you a corrupt politician - or am I being redundant?"
Here we will have the audacity to explore this question:
"Are the ministers of the NSW State Government confused and clueless about how to administer the state - or are we merely being redundant?"
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