Wol

So this morning the treasurer Michael Costa was sacked by the premier, Morris Iemma who was then promptly sacked by the rabble that run NSW AKA the NSW Labor Party.

It would be comical if made into a Monty Python series, but the poor old taxpayer is going to continue to pick up the tabs for cancelled programs, abandoned projects and the loss of credit rating for the state.

:curse::curse:

spartacus

Shambloodybolic is the only way to describe it.

Swerv-o

Yes, and they have replaced him with someone who has only been in office for 18 months.

Glad to see the back of Costa though...


S

Amazulu

It's sad to see that it's not only WA with crap government.....

Wol

WA and QLD used to be the byword for corrupt, incompetent inefficient government - but NSW has always been run by and for a Labour thug mafia and to hell with the residents.

So - no change there then............

Hutch

I'm glad to see the back of the pair of them.

Gibbo

Always is a long time!! The last 10 or so years of Labor has been exactly that but before that we did have governments which put the state first.

MartinLuther

I bet Brumby (Vic Premier) is laughing his cock off at the mo.

Olibeneli

Even though I am not there any more I am glad to see them go and I hope that the new crowd give the NSW taxpayers a far better service....it can't be worse can it ?

With NSW being dyed in the wool Labour I must have lived in the epicentre down in the Illawarra.........blue collar heartland brought up on the steelworks means votes are near 100% labour so no need for Labour to pump money in that area to get votes.

As for corruption and putting people in places of power that don't have the skills........just look at Wollongong and Shellharbour councils, GMs and mayors.
The Illawarra to me although quite beautiful will always take 20 times longer to get anything worthwhile of major importance done.....Shell Cove marina has been talked about for at least 10 years now its shelved.....super clinic planned for Tullimbar/West Dapto....will take an era..........fast train link to Sydney ?.....can't see that ever happening despite all the talk. The people really do deserve better.

During my time there I did shake my head numerous times at the evident incompetence. I did even meet the MP for Kiama and he was all spin city being a lawyer.........real slimeball IMHO.......

Only trouble is now being back here in Blighty I think we have more of the same.........just a far better educated version. I think Gordon Clown won't be far from the chop too........good riddence.

If only there was someone somewhere who was worth a vote !

Tom Sawyer

At least his previous experience as a Garbo will stand him in good stead

Nothing will change as long as there is a factional Labor Party in charge. Clueless. Corrupt. Inept.

The Bloke

..... but then those governments in Qld and WA were run by the corrupt National/Liberal coalition parties for decades. At least everyone knoew they were corrupt. It's only in the last ten years or so, that Qld/WA have been run by the corrupt, incompetant and inefficient ALP.

Wol

Agreed.

The saddest thing about the Australian electorate is the almost universal acceptance that corruption, inefficiency and incompetence are the natural states of government at all levels.

In most other Western countries they do have such inadequacies to one extent or another - mostly nothing remotely as badly as here - but the population is angry about it when it is made public.

In Australia, so long as the gas flows to the barbeque and the surf is up - who cares?

The problem is, of course, that the country ends up living off what it can dig out of the ground and flog elsewhere, while the politicians' egos grow and their perks expand exponentially.

yanH

I also find the acceptance of corruption here odd. It almost seems as if people expect that politicians and public servants will be corrupt If the recent Wollongong scandal had occurred in the UK then I think people would have been angry and amazed and it would have resulted in a major shake up of the system. Here it hardly raised an eyebrow. Back in the UK a planner in Portsmouth almost faced criminal charges over accepting a meal from a planner here collusion between developers and public servants seems to be the norm.

Wol

That's the crux of it.

And it hasn't changed over the years: read "The Lucky Country" (which is where the oft-quoted phrase was coined: it doesn't mean what most people who use it assume!).

The general acceptance of the proposition that so many people elected to public office are in it for their own agendas is a characteristic of the third world and it's sad to see the same pervasive attitude.

The hudris is amazing: for example, the Australian stance on climate is that it is in some way showing the world how to get emissions down. Yet there are only a handful of countries with worse records of greenhouse polluters including Cuba, Botswana, Kazakhstan, Libya and Bahrain according to Ross Garnaut himself!

sonlymewalter

Ergo why private business is run the same way. The whole country and work ethos is built on "jobs for the boys" which is why Aus is so far behind in terms of productivity.

I was watching the news the other day where productivity levels were given as the worst in 3 years and a downturn on last year even though a recession was planned for and targets had still not been met.

The excuse? It's a recession and "s'all good". There is no accountability or responsibility. When you give jobs to your mates and they do a crap job I guess everyone has to cover up together

Talk about the naked emperor wearing no clothes

Wol: Let's see who the new ones are. I vote the wiggles