When Governments Fail ... The Public Must Lead

The Sydney Morning Herald has taken the bit between the teeth in inviting the public to participate in an inquiry about Sydney's abysmal transport problems. It is, as with many things, a mixed bag of "yes it's time", yes it involves the Herald also seeking to score good points with a diminishing number of subscribers and to trump its competitors.

However, allowing for those foibles, the point is valid: the public must by-pass the ineffectual state Government and the hubris of departmental executives.

Yesterday I pointed to the frustration felt over the decade long failure of the State Government and of the NSW Attorney General's Department to act on repeated pleas for legal reforms. The structural changes made by that department in the past five years have not made any smashingly great difference in improving services.

So in like manner the groundswell of public opinion needs to link up from the single-issue of transport, and even the specialised focus of the needs of the disabled, to cover most portfolios in the State Government. There is no public faith left in this Government. There is much entrenched suspicion about the way the Attorney General's Department is being administered.


There are two famous political slogans that could apply here to the public groundswell over this state Labor Government and more narrowly to the Attorney General's Department:

* Gough Whitlam's "It's Time"

* Barack Obama's "Change is coming ... Yes, we can"

Are you listening Mr Rees? Are you listening Mr Hatzistergos?