Slow day here. Apologies for the miss 
2 Likes
Since it is government itself that writes laws, there is an obvious limitation to this idea. Canât see this working in the Peopleâs Republic of Western Australia.
It is unclear what specific penalties you have in mind, assuming that you want to penalise the âgovernmentâ (not really possible) and not the taxpayer. Realistically the only penalty for a minister is sacking as minister - but that frequently happens through the political process anyway (as well as through the electoral process).
A later post from you suggests it is Christian Porter who is the minister responsible but you canât sack someone from the ministry who is no longer even in parliament - and yet if you make it a legal problem then you are also required to give due process, which will often mean years of delay.
The fact that a policy may have been through a conga line of ministers also raises questions as to who specifically is responsible and who specifically should be penalised.
Other possible sanctions that you could have in mind:
- a fine - but that really would often actually penalise the taxpayer (and would it be an insurable risk as is the case for the directors of a company?)
- removal from parliament - but I have major reservations about that from a democratic point of view and it seems as if it could too easily be weaponised
Personal liability as with company directors who transgress, and no government funding for backup or bailing them out. I would propose something that reflected the codes and laws requiring certain professions âto work for the customers best interestsâ. Proving that in a government decision would be difficult so perhaps any legislation would be symbolic (shambolic?) in practice - yet more than we have.
(Even if you could ever get a government to legislate that, which is clearly against the governmentâs own interests) ⊠then fines would become part of the âcost of doing businessâ and hence would be reflected in ministerial salaries. So really just punishing the taxpayer.
Nah. It is quite common for a company to explicitly indemnify company directors and indeed other officeholders, and employees (except in certain obvious cases like a director defrauding the company). Thatâs over and above whether a third party would be prepared to insure the risk.
But, OK, if you could ever get a government to legislate this, you could also in theory make it illegal to indemnify or insure. Then it would come down to ministerial salaries.
Also, because of the rather dubious provision in Section 44 of the Constitution that precludes a bankrupt from sitting in parliament, my comments above about removal from parliament as the penalty also apply here. (Bankrupting people to get them out of parliament is the sort of thing that happens in other countries and is not something that I would like to import.)
In principle the best interests of the people are supposedly being served by those chosen to be representative. It seems a slippery slope if we suggest that having made our choice of member once every 3 or 4 years, someone who is not us may still decide we made a poor choice. Likely to be divided more often than not along ideological divides.
It will be a significant response if the government as a first step can deliver a meaningful Federal ICAC/CMC.
Not sure precisely what you are referring to but Iâm sure you are right. It undoubtedly would be ideological and weaponised - with one side pushing for âsevere penaltiesâ and the other side minimising it, with their supporters in the media, and their supporters in the voting public, lining up on side.
That is a cost of doing business that you donât measure in dollars.
Internet forums are rarely places where details get worked out and legislation drafted. It does keep many people occupied in musing, debating, and even arguing from forum to forum.
I fully understand all is really lost finding ways to keep ministers (and governments) honest, but Australia has slipped in recent times.
We are but pawns used to feed the sharks unless there is a will that becomes a way, and the way holds those who lack honesty and integrity at bay. Even with Tweedledee and Tweedledum âfollowing each other aroundâ one side seems overweighted for its lack of respect and operates with seeming impunity.
Our score in 2012 would put us in todayâs equal fourth with rising star Norway, Singapore and Sweden. Instead we are equal eighteenth. That is incredibly sad. (Actually, quite a few countriesâ scores on that measure have dipped in recent years - but most of them have started to recover - unlike Australia.)
3 Likes
Hi all, as this topic was getting fairly long, we decided to start a new one to capture all general scam avoidance news and conversation over here. We also welcome new individual topics posted into our scams category.
Thanks for your discussions so far, please keep them coming!
2 Likes
