Most Director Generals have financial authorities/delegations to sign off on a certain amount before gaining, say, ministerial/cabinet/parliamentary approval. It appears that the minister may have only recently heard about the purchase. I suspect there will be some buttock covering about to occur in the department.
or some wink wink sorry agency, but thanks for doing what I wanted, and you know it is what I wanted?
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What evidence is there that the inflated sale is what the Minister wanted?
As much as his assertion the agency just rolled it through without reference to him. Which is more believable? Public servants neglecting their duty, or an elected politician âservingâ his base directly or indirectly?
Way back I had a fairly high dollar procurement coming up and a company from NSW visited accompanied by an X-MP whose father was an esteemed retired MP I had met before. What was the relationship between the X-MP and company? Nothing except supporting his âconstituencyâ. The political presence? Useless in my case. He tried. Perhaps he realised a problem with his âsupportâ through my (unfortunate) American accent?
Itâs open to question. Joh Bjelke-Petersen and Robert (Bob) Askin might offer some guidance on the matter.
Opposite sides of the fence in one way but all tarred with the same brush in others.
The parallels are worthy of consideration.
For the other landholders who had to sell out for the airport at fair value what questions do they now have?
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I do not think all politicians are lilly white and I do not think it is impossible the problem is at a higher level. It could be simple incompetence or corruption at various levels, including the Minister. Unless there is more available in public we just donât know.
That is correct, and when public service officers actions are investigated they are not released often due to privacy or other reasons. There is also commercial in confidence and often disclosure agreements that apply to settlement of land compensation.
As the matter has become political, one thing is for sure. The real reasons why the amount was paid for compensation will possibly never be known. This is in the political interests of those who use the absence of information in their favour.
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As events have unfolded some questions previously asked and concerns raised are once again in the news so I have reopened this topic. What transpired is not for our speculation or second guessing, but has been put into a formal process.
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Todayâs instalment, subtitled: The Revolving Door, not that this fine gentlemen is the only one nor is the game limited to any party. It seems the ultimate goal of many pollies may be to spend enough time in âofficeâ to develop âskills and contactsâ and then partake of private enterprise ASAP after leaving, although some relatively minor limitations have been applied here and there is recent years.
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It isnât just pollies, senior public servants do very well from the door. A strong building block of regulatory capture is all the main players having worked together or having influence over those currently in the chairs of power.
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And another one in NSW.
Hopefully I will be able to sell the NSW Government this bridge I have in Sydney.
The plot thickens.
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