Politics is a dirty word

  Australia’s flawed political system is mainly a result of it being based on the concept of federation. Rather than being a country, it is a grouping of individual states, with politicians eager to set their own agenda’s and build their own bureaucratic empires. Another problem is the switch from a first past the post vote counting system to proportional representation which enables smaller parties to become decisive in the country's parliament. the system gives small parties the balance of power, and influence disproportionate to the number of votes they attract. Winston Churchill did not like the system of proportional representation for government, describing it as "determined by the most worthless votes given for the most worthless candidates. .”

 Bass Coast Shire Council has destroyed any credibility it tried to establish about caring for environmental values or action to limit the effects of clearing native vegetation. We have suggested that the State Government  sacks Bass Coast Shire councillors and appoint commissioners but, of course, nothing will happen until after the Victorian State election. If Labor wins again, nothing will happen either, except more vegetation will be destroyed and more species endangered. Anne and Phil wrote to Local Government Minister Melissa Horne saying: “ We ask the Government to consider sacking Bass Coast Shire councillors and appointing administrators because of the failure to properly administer the Shire planning scheme. The government-approved Regional sand Extraction Strategy, Lang Lang to Grantville was required to be incorporated into the Shire’s planning scheme but the requirement has been ignored. Mike Gooey, Ececutive Director of Local Government Victoria, advised that a...