Vic Government should start sacking

 

At last the Victorian Government is facing strong criticism for its handling of lockdown policies during the curent Copvid19 pandemic. Calls have been made by the health union for the resignation of Health Minister Jenny Mikakos who has been accused of “breathtaking incompetence”. The State Government’s response to the pandemic has been muddled at best and it seems a little unfair for Minister Mikakos to be a scapegoat. The fundamental problems are far more broad and encompass the whole of Goverenment including bureaucrats. Lines of responsibilty have been deliberately blurred to deflect blame for mismanagement.

A clear example was the establishment of an Emergency Management Commissioner. Craig Lapsley should not have been replaced in that role. The position was created in 2014 and did nothing to improve the delivery of emergency services. It simply imposed another level of expensive bureaucracy. There was already (and still is), a full army of bureaucrats and politicians paid to administer the various emergency services. The Minister is paid to take responsibility for overall administration so the position of Commissioner was never justified.Craig Lapsley resigned in August and was immediately replaced by Andrew Crisp.


The performance of emergency management services in Victoria needs a complete review. The fragmentation of responsibilities probably led to the current debacle and it certainly asdded to the high cost of dealing with a scrub fire at Grantville on February 1 last year. The State has a Minister and full department of bureaucrats dealing with emergency services, so why has another tier been imposed (the Emergency Management Commission) It has done nothing but  create more jobs for bureaucrats and more opportunities to shift blame.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Protection from Government propaganda?

  Attempts to prevent the spread of false information are long overdue. However the Australian Government’s Bill should only be supported if if it covers all the deceptive propaganda spewed out by Government. We all remember the nonsense peddled by Ministers and bureaucrats over Covid 19 and The Voice referendum – all designed to panic the community and force compliance with the official line. The Government says that its Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024  aims  to reduce the spread of seriously harmful misinformation and disinformation on digital communications platforms. However, it is unclear if the Bill will operate in a manner compatible with Australia’s international human rights obligations related to freedom of expression. The definitions of misinformation and disinformation are not clear and create uncertainty. The Bill introduces transparency requirements for certain digital...
Read more

Bass Coast Councillors should be personally liable for their mistaken decision

  Bass Coast Shire councillors should be held personally liable for any costs resulting from their decision to reject an application by Heidelberg Materials to widen Stanley Road, Grantville, It seem likely that ratepayers will face a huge bill to defend Councillors’ decision at VCAT. The road widening has long been a requirement of the planning permit previously issued by the Shire and was approved by Shire planning staff as well as DEECA. Rather than make ratepayers foot the bill, councillors who refused the planning application should be personally liable. All councillors other than Jan Thompson, who had the sense to vote for the application should pay every cent.
Read more

God Save the King

 With King Charles III and Queen Camilla in Australia, it's time for some to take a reality check.It is tiresome of the ratbags in the Republican movement to persevere with their flawed campain.   In 1999, Australians went to the polls to decide in a referendum whether to become a republic or to retain the monarchy. The result was clear, On the question of being a republic Australia said NO. Here's a post I put on this blog onSeptember 28 2022 Rabid members of the Australian Rupublic Movement and some politicians keep trying to revive the flawed concept of dumping the monarchy and turning Australia into a republic. The Australian Government talks about holding a referendum to gauge popular support, but before that happens, proponents need to explain what type of republic and how this country will benefit – will it cut the waste of taxpayers dollars? Will it be more democratic? Unless the answer to both those questions in “YES” why spend money on a system that offers no be...
Read more