Heads should roll in Canberra over illegal export of rare tractor - but politicians will protect themselves and incompetent staff

An antique Australian-made tractor is being auctioned in the United States even though politicians and bureaucrats should never have approved its export. Provisions in the Cultural Heritage Act 1986 mean it should not have been allowed to leave the country, The failure was a clear breach of the legal obligations placed on Governments and their employees. But heads will not roll because no-one in Government cares. The tractor, a 1912 McDonald EB built by renowned engineer and industrialist A H McDonald, the leading pioneer of tractors and agricultural implements in this country. The tractor is of great historic importance.

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