Kafkaesque Nightmares in Carpenter’s Castle

Carpenter Tables Unsigned Casey Report - was it ammended?

Well, you will be pleased that Greg* has reviewed Eileen* decision not to release the “Report of the Review of the Department of Indigenous Affairs” under the Freedom of Information Act, and agreed with her decision! Both are employed in the labyrinthine Department of Premier and Cabinet.

In a Kafkaesque letter seen by the Desert Rat, Greg explains his decision:

“I concur with the view taken by the initial decision maker (Eileen)”, but because the Premier has tabled the Report in Parliament (and made it public)”. Greg then states that he has “decided to reverse the decision under review (of Eileen) and release the report to you”!

The Desert Rat is bewildered by this sinister irrationality, how can a Premier’s Department apparatchik reverse a decision and release a report to me that has already been released to the public? In fact the Desert Rat already had a copy provided to him from Parliament House. The Desert Rat at least knows, that once the report was released by the Premier it was outside the scope of the FOI Act.

Then to add a touch of the absurd, Greg asks if I “would like to appeal his decision.” Well ...yes Greg, and if I am successful will the Premier then un-table the report in Parliament, pretend it has not been released, calls in all circulated copies with a threat of a Crime and Corruption Commission inquisition, with most of the powers of George Bush’s (Kafkaesque) USA Patriot Act, if anyone doesn’t own up to having a copy?

What on earth do these minions want to unleash? Poor John Lightowlers the Acting FOI Commissioner must be wondering what he has got himself into. Are they already trying to make his life impossible as he is the poor bugger that has to deal with this nonsense?

Carpenter: Unsigned report tabled, alleged to be an amended version of Dawn Casey’s Report

Well Greg the sad news is that you have not provided me with the Report for which I applied. Reliable sources tell me that this is not the original Report signed by Dawn Casey that she presented to the Government. This is an amended version which has not been signed!

I am told that Alan Carpenter didn’t mention that the report he tabled in Parliament was an unsigned amended version of Dawn Casey's report that had been rewritten within the Department of Indigenous Affairs (the agency under Independent Review! – how Kafkaesque!).

If this proves to be true, let’s hope Alan Carpenter expels himself from Parliament and indefinitely bans himself from the Parliamentary precinct (like Julian Grill has been). Will he weep into his cold cappuccino as he apologises to Shelly Archer and Anthony Fels for his sanctimonious bullying? Will he hand back his parliamentary pension and set himself up as a lobbyist when he regains his composure and run the gauntlet of the blackguards?

CCC Public Hearing required to find the truth

The Desert Rat thinks this matter should be referred to the Crime and Corruption Commission so that Carpenter, Casey, Mal Wauchope and other Committee members can be cross examined in public hearings to get to the truth of the matter.

*Greg Moore is the Assistant Director General, State Administration and Corporate Support, and Eileen McCaffrey is Director, Organisational Management Branch, Public Sector Management Division in the Department of Premier and Cabinet.

ALP: McGinty's Struggle for Control & Power

The Left Witch-Hunt to Regain Hegemony after the 2004 Debacle

Jim McGinty’s sidekick Alan Carpenter is full of indignation and moral outrage when it comes to the behaviour of those who don’t see the world his way.

Carpenter a recent draftee to the ALP, was handpicked by Jim McGinty and given a free ride into a safe seat in Parliament. Some would say that Left faction boss Jim McGinty is his puppet master. The Desert Rat has the view that when let off the leash Carpenter shows little understanding of politics, the ALP or the workings of Parliament.

Carpenter’s recent behaviour shows that he doesn’t appreciate the long traditions of the Parliament and the good reason for them. The Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly are separate Houses and should not interfere in the business of each other - particularly their deliberations. Each House is master of its own destiny – so if you’re from the Assembly Mr Premier, don’t tell the Legislative Council who they should or should not expel, as that won’t happen – particularly when petulantly demanded.

Worse still was Alan Carpenter's other big mistake in forcing the resignation of Shelley Archer from the ALP. That foolish action was taken without the knowledge of other Cabinet Ministers, who were horrified when they found out. Carpenter had failed to realise that action would cause the balance of numbers in the Upper House to change - with the ALP losing control! The only remedy for that stupid error was to try to kick her out, so that another ALP appointee could take her place. That explains why Carpenter is so desperate to get Shelley Archer out of Parliament.

What irks McGinty and Carpenter most, is anyone in the ALP who has the ability to influence the ALP and the Parliamentary party; who can challenge or thwart their internal control.

2004: The ethnic cleansing of the Centre Right.

In the pre-selections for the 2004 election, the National Executive of the ALP intervened because of internal turmoil and branch stacking within the WA Branch. McGinty was gobsmacked and devastated by the large number of non- Left candidates that got up in winnable seats. The Left thought it had the pre-selections sown up. Effectively the Left fared badly and the disastrous result was attributed to Burke and Grill. It is not surprising that many non-Left MP’s seek strategic advice from Burke when they are under pre-selection pressure from the dominant Left faction controlled by McGinty.

McGinty set about regaining the lost ground; the control and influence that had suddenly evaporated. The demonising of Julian Grill and Brian Burke was part of the strategy to regain control and influence of the ALP.

On many occasions, the posturing Carpenter has sought to portray himself as the great “Western” hero who took on the “big bad” factional bosses. Kevin Reynolds has been the whipping boy. The truth is that the ALP in WA has been the hegemony of McGinty’s big Left faction in an alliance with the New Right. McGinty is Carpenter’s mentor and Carpenter is closely aligned with McGinty’s faction and uses it as his de facto power base. Kevin Reynolds, on the other hand is the head of a relatively small union that has not had much say in the affairs of the ALP for some years.

Much of what has happened since 2004 revolves around McGinty re-establishing the Left hegemony. Earlier moves by McGinty to quarantine Burke and Grill were to thwart their (legitimate) influence within the ALP. Events since then, the activities of the CCC and the savage attacks by the media, have been partly fuelled by this partisan warfare within the ALP.

The real question is how was the influence used?

Despite the demonising, the real question is; was the influence of Grill and Burke good or bad? That will require a follow-up analysis. The Desert Rat’s view is that it can be argued that their influence was very constructive and in probably in the best interest of the State, in most, if not all cases.

Union Dirt Sheets - CCC Challenged to Act

Left Union Dirt Sheets: Link Need CCC Investigation.

The Crime and Corruption Commission should investigate if the Liquor Hospitality and Miscillaneous Workers Union (LHMU) got information from the Attorney General or the Department of Justice for the Dirt Sheets revealed in The West Australian.

Politics is not for the meek. The enemies within the Unions and ALP are always more threatening than external threats. If you want to wield power in the ALP, you have to fight for it and fight to keep it. As Graeme Richardson the former NSW Right power broker once said, "Do whatever it takes".

The Desert Rat is hardly surprised that the LHMU, the biggest Left union in WA, led by Secretary Dave Kelly the key power base of Left faction controller Attorney General Jim McGinty, was circulating "Dirt Sheets" on innocent voluntary board members of an aged care home with whom it had a dispute.

Dave Kelly has been a vocal public critic of Kevin Reynolds and the CMFU; a centre union and close friend of Brian Burke. Kelly has also been a prominent public critic of Julian Grill and Brian Burke during their recent public humiliation by the CCC. Many of these similar attacks on competing factions and personalities within the ALP, is all about the internal struggle for control and power. "Dirt Sheets" are designed to discredit your opponents and strengthen your position.

What is most concerning about the LMHU "Dirt Sheets" published in "The West Australian" is one on which includes the typed note:

"(Woman's name) is a compulsive liar. I will see
what info I can get from the Attorney-General and Justice Dept."

The Crime and Corruption Commission needs to investigate if the LHMU was able to get information and favours from and or through the Attorney General or his office staff or the Justice Dept.

The CCC could easily determine, if any information has been supplied to the LHMU.

This can be done by using their power to compel the Minister and staff to answer questions under oath in a public hearing about their knowledge of the Dirt Sheets. Dave Kelly and the LHMU staff could also be questioned under oath. That is needed if the public can be satisfied there has not been an improper passing on of information about LHMU "enemies" or those of the ALP Left.

The Desert Rat challenges the CCC to investigate this matter of grave public concern.

Does the CCC have the courage to investigate those with real power?

Got You! - Carpenter Capitulates

Carpenter Humiliated by Public Pressure

The Desert Rat is not surprised to see Alan Carpenter The Minister for Transparent Government capitulate over his refusal to release Dawn Casey’s Department of Indigenous Affairs Review Report.

Carpenter was on a hiding to nothing in refusing to release the Report. His arrogance clouded his judgment and his handling of the matter was inept.

The Desert Rat is aware of one applicant who was asked yesterday by the Department of Premier for an extension of time to assess the report for release. The applicant refused the request from the Internal Reviewer of the Freedom of Information (FOI) decision (see earlier posts). Refusal of the Internal Reviewer to release the Report would have shifted the pressure and next decision to John Lightowlers the new gagged FOI Commissioner.

Lightowlers would have been in the hot seat; in a no win position. If he released the report he would have been "put into Coventry" by the “Ruling Junta”. Lightowlers would have been seen as a lackey if he refused to release the Report and been completely discredited in the eyes of the public and the press. The State Coroner Alastair Hope had subpoenaed the Report together with the Head of the Premier’s Department Mal Wauchope for his inquiry into Aboriginal suicides.

What hiding the Report highlighted, was the more embarrassing, complete failure of the State ALP Governments in the area of Aboriginal advancement and welfare. The Premier Alan Carpenter performance has been six years of “incapacity building”.

Well now the public can look forward to reading the report, but the Desert Rat still smells another “rat”.

More to follow?

Lies and Mistakes & Character Assasination

My Mistake, Your Lie!

It appears that Crime & Corruption Commission (CCC) CEO Mike Silverstone is human too. He was fortunate not to have been charged with giving false evidence to the Parliamentary Committee on the CCC on 5 July 2004.

When asked by the Committee if the CCC Telecommunications Interception (TI) equipment was owned or leased by the CCC, Silverstone said,

“It is a lease system, and it is completely locked down so we cannot access it
ourselves with our own in-house technical capacity.”

When asked “What is the life of the lease?” Silverstone efficiently answered:

This has just come to my attention. I understand that the lease has now expired
and is being maintained on an ongoing basis for in the order of $120 000 a
year.”

“During my preparation for this committee, I became aware of these details and
have sought access to the contracts... “

By God this man is efficient - no wonder they caught so many refugees up North.

Ten days later, CEO Mike Silverstone wrote to the committee advising them about, what had “just come to his attention” - he had got (badly) wrong:

• The system wasn’t leased, it was owned by the CCC.
• He also said the lease of the TI equipment had now expired - it hadn’t.
  
• He said the lease was maintained on an ongoing basis – it wasn’t, the maintenance contract had expired!
  

My God, this man made not one mistake, but three mistakes and provided false evidence under oath to a Parliamentary Committee. Was this a rerun of the “Children Overboard“ misunderstanding which Silverstone was central to?

Why wasn’t he publically humiliated and put in stock out the front of the CCC in St George’s Terror-ise in Perth? I wouldn’t be so unkind to ask “Why shouldn’t he face criminal charges?"

Well, the Desert Rat knows Silverstone is human and also makes mistakes – and is reminding him gently. It is a pity that someone in his position thinks that criminal charges are appropriate for others who get it wrong or make mistakes.

At least Silverstone was in a position to prepare himself to give evidence to the committee which is more than those poor unfortunates who front his committee can do, because they are not informed what they will be questioned about.

What is Silverstone’s mistake, is someone else’s lie and criminal behaviour!!

Carpenter Stymies Coroner over Secret Aboriginal Report

Carpenter's Insensitivity to Grieving Aboriginal Families

Premier Alan Carpenter continues to cause many Aboriginal people anguish and hurt over his refusal to give the State Coroner Alastair Hope a copy of a Report on the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. The Report came from a public review of the Department of Indigenous Affairs. Because Carpenter does not agree with findings of the report, he has refuses to release it to the public and now has refused to give the State Coroner a copy!

The State Coroner Alastair Hope is investigating 20 alcohol and drug-related suicides among Aboriginal people and wants to the benefit of the advice from the wide ranging review chaired by Dawn Casey the Indigenous head of the WA Museum.

Coroner Alastair Hope said he "wanted to see if there was any cohesive plan in place to deal with the many issues facing indigenous communities." He has now subpoenaed Mal Wauchope the head of Carpenter's Premier's Department to explain and cough-up the Casey Report and the Sanderson Reports.

Carpenter will eventually have to release the report. He will be forced into that course of action by public pressure.

The Desert Rat will reveal more scandal about the now secret Casey Report in a future article.

While Carpenter learns the hard way, hundreds of Aboriginal families that have lost young family members will remember this callous disregard of their feelings. Does he care? Carol Martin the Aboriginal Member for the Kimberley has made no public attempt to pressure Carpenter to release this report to the public and the Coroner. Her silence is deafening; does she care?

Lift your game on Aboriginal issues Alan, and release the Report.

Indigenous Affairs: How Genuine is Carpenter?

Foolish, Floundering – Perhaps Disingenuous?

Alan Carpenter is a person who claims a deep interest in Indigenous Affair. As Indigenous Affairs Minister he floundered and showed no initiative. He changed the name of the Department and rearranged a few deck chairs; junked a few worthwhile programs that didn't fit with his philosophy or were being run by people he regarded as reactionary. "Capacity building" became the new jargon and nothing happened .

The Desert Rat didn’t choke with surprise when he read in today’s "The West Australian" that 8 out of 10 children leave Fitzroy Crossing District High School without adequate literacy skills - that's code for semi-illiterate to illiterate and throw in appalling numeracy skills as well.

The Desert Rat on one of his northern sojourns spent some time at the Fitzroy Crossing District High School a few years back. It was in a terrible state of disrepair - the site was subject to flooding, it had an inadequate covered assembly area and substandard facilities. Liberal Education Minister Colin Barnett had announced and it was programmed to rebuilt it in 2001 - using funds from the sale of AlintaGas. Well the money was spent elsewhere by the then Minister for Education Alan Carpenter - building a "Taj Mahal" in his own electorate - the Melville Primary School.

Have a look on the Education Department website and see the photo of the grandiose Melville monument. Then look at Fitzroy Crossing DHS there is an image of a lean-to covered in a creeper. That was probably the best shot they could get.

How serious was Alan Carpenter as Education Minister about Aboriginal education when the unused old Melville Primary School was in infinitely better condition than Fitzroy Crossing DHS and yet he spent millions on a new school in his electorate?

To make matters worse, early on he got rid of (sacked?) Peter Browne the CEO of the Education Department who was actually making some real progress with the Department and Aboriginal Education. The Education Department resumed its downward spiral and the drift to private schools accelerated. Aboriginal education also lost any sense of direction and went backwards. The evidence of this sad state of affairs will be elaborated on in a later article.

So the Fitzroy kids missed out on their new school in 2001. Alan Carpenter closed a better school – old Melville Primary and built what could be likened to one of Saddam Hussain’s palaces next door. Aboriginal education took a turn for the worse – all thanks to our former Minister for Education and current directionless Premier.

On the same page of today’s “The West Australian” Carpenter says he won’t hand over the Report into the Department of Indigenous Affairs. He is quoted as saying “I want to employ strategies that will actually change things and not just fuel another report, yet another inquiry.” Well Alan, you called for the Report after the Halls Creek fiasco (a diversion?) and now won’t release it. People who made submissions were told that if they didn’t want their comments and name made public in the report, then they should lodge a confidential submission.

Well, the Rat is left scratching his ears wondering if Alan Carpenter has any ideas or anything to offer Indigenous people. The only thing the Rat can think of that may have upset old Grumpy Carpenter is that Julian Grill made a submission to the inquiry – heaven forbid – was he quoted – was Carpenter upstaged?

Now the public can’t be allowed to read that!

Bad Law: McGinty's Obsession with Legislation

Lawmaking is no substitution for Management

The Attorney General Jim McGinty and the Carpenter Government think that most problems can be fixed by a torrent of legislation. McGinty has been responsible for about 40% of the legislation put through Parliament under the Labor Government. In 2003 and 2004 some 8000 pages of legislation were passed with McGinty being responsible for over 3200 pages. That is more legislation than in any one year of the Court Government. Add to this, the thousands of pages of regulations and rules and it's not difficult to see why the public service is not providing public services very effectively under the current Labor Government.

Carpenter and McGinty believe laws fix problems. McGinty's legislative binge clearly gets first preference when Bills are drafted. Why? Because McGinty runs the place and feels he has to be seen to be passing legislation to achieve. The result is ineffective government - look at the mess he has made of running the Health Department among other things.

Some simple tests and processes should be developed to ensure we reduce the amount of legislation and improve the quality of the legislation is passed. The New Zealand's Parliament is trying to tackle this issue. Some principles that have been suggested are that legislation should not:

• diminish the rule of law by creating uncertainty as to whether actions are lawful - “incitement to hatred” laws and the like would go. The principle is to "avoid imprecision and complexity that limits the ability of citizens to understand and comply with the law".
• be passed if the purpose could be better achieved without it - that would eliminate most recent legislation - the Crime and Corruption Commission and WACOT are two examples.
• diminish freedom of contract - most employment legislation would go.

One commentator remarked that adding more and more law was like adding more furniture to your house to make it more comfortable. Good laws he says are few in number (and pages).

A mechanism is needed to weed-out special interest political deals, delay or stop legislation that reacts too quickly to public opinion and other "busy-body" legislation.

Perhaps the government should put its legislative program forward with an outline of each Bill and what it wants to achieve. After a general debate, all MP's can rank the top 50 bills in order of importance in a secret ballot.

The top 40 bills should get priority in the Parliament in that order. New legislative proposals should run the gauntlet of a new ballot twice a year.

McGinty's Bill of Rights proposals does not need to be law but just applied to legislation, then it may useful and not be just another unproductive pig-out for the legal profession.

The Western Australian Parliament should aim to reduce its new legislation to 1000 pages a year.

McGinty's Lawful "Political Bloodsports".

Civil Liberties Out, Political Bloodsports In

We need to be vigilant when politicians such as Jim McGinty publicly posture about civil liberties and the need for a Bill of Rights. His record hardly lends itself to any convincing commitment to these concepts, except where there is some political benefit such as “one vote, one value”, or “gay” rights, to attract the Greens preferences and the like.

McGinty’s Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) Act has some striking parallels to George Bush’s USA Patriot Act. Both circumscribe or remove the protections of civil liberties that would normally be found in a Bill of Rights. Bills of Rights are not sacrosanct and their protections can be ephemeral. They can go out the door for short term political benefit such as in the Prostitution Bill 1999 which was enthusiastically supported by Jim McGinty as Shadow Attorney General.

Crime and Corruption Commission Act

Under McGinty’s CCC Act a police officer can at any time enter any place under suspicion, demand the production of any documents, records or articles they find. They can use force to enter any place; stop, detain, and search anyone at the place; photograph any person or thing, and make a copy of or seize any document without a warrant.

They can stop, detain, and search people without a warrant, stop vehicles, detain and search occupants even if the person is not be suspected of anything. They can seize anything without a warrant.

They can enter your house when you are not there, they can plant listening devices anywhere including your bedroom (so the eavesdropper does not die of boredom), tap your phone, intercept your emails and faxes. They don’t have to tell you later if you house was bugged and they don’t tell you if your phone, fax, email or bedroom has had the listening device removed. They can cross examine you about anything without allowing you to familiarise yourself with the detail. Then charge you if you get some of your facts wrong.

One wonders how CCC CEO Mike Silverstone would feel if the Commonwealth police refused to tell him, if they were bugging his bedroom over his involvement in the “Children Overboard” scandal and how he would feel if they refused to tell him when the bug was removed. [It was between Silverstone and the Captain of the “Adelaide” where the message was in dispute.] One of the Desert Rat’s maxims in life is to treat others as you would like them to treat you (cockroaches excepted).

One would not expect someone like CEO Mike Silverstone who has been on the public payroll for a large part of his life to know a bit about how to make government actually function and be proactive, rather than be buried in interminable process and red-tape.

George Bush’s USA Patriot Act

The United States Bill of Rights offered no protection in the wake of George Bush’s USA Patriot Act. There are surprising parallels with the WA Crime and Corruption Commission Act which also strips away the rights of ordinary citizens. Under that Act it can do all of the above plus more.

McGinty does not accept the Howard Government's assurances that it will not extend Work Choices after the election. Why should we believe McGinty won’t further attack our civil liberties.

Authoritarian governments always attack the civil liberties of their citizens. Under the USA Patriot Act the US Government can now abduct citizens and put them in military custody and hold them forever, without charging them with a crime or allowing them a lawyer or judicial review of any kind. They can now search a citizen’s home or office secretly without a warrant or probable cause. They can monitor citizen’s phone calls, internet use patterns, library and bookstore records. They can seize their papers and effects without a warrant or possible cause. They can monitor religious or political groups without suspecting criminal activity and can listen to prisoner / lawyer conversations with no judicial review. They can suspend habeas corpus indefinitely.

Prostitution Bill 1999

As the Shadow Attorney General, Jim McGinty said this Bill was “an important, but small step in dealing with the prostitution issue” and the “Bill has the wholehearted support of the (Labor) Opposition".

The Bill contained draconian powers to tackle street prostitution in North Perth by a few innocent, drug dependent young women peddling their wares. These powers were not available to tackle organised crime! Without the need for a warrant, police can enter premises, seize documents and other evidence and search people. They can stop vehicles, search occupants and seize document and other evidence. They can even compel a person to answer questions. Failure to comply with the latter has a penalty of 2 years imprisonment.

There are penalties of imprisonment for a maximum of 20 years if a prostitute has a sexually transmitted disease and 5 years if the infection was not life threatening.

If they have evidence of prostitution on them (such as condoms in their handbag) they could be liable to 2 years imprisonment. One would have thought a prostitute having condoms in her handbag would to be encouraged.

McGinty's hypocrisy is breathtaking. A Bill of Rights is of little protection when Parliament is in the hands of powerful people who have little respect for civil liberties.

Public Posturing - Private Cowardice

McGinty’s Bill of Rights

When reading that Jim McGinty was touting a Bill of Rights, the Desert Rat’s whiskers twitched and he was overcome by a simultaneous feeling of both amusement and nausea.

Of course the Australian Labor Party would need to be exempt. Rats, like Caucus members - should also be protected - from snakes and birds of prey that make life stressful and dangerous for harmless creatures.

The public posturing by McGinty on a Bill of Rights, belies a private cowardice when it comes to defending those rights; even within his own Party.

In his public posturing about the rights of Western Australian citizens and the need for a Bill of Rights, Jim McGinty said

"A lot of people are shocked when they find out that in WA, basic human rights such as the right to a fair trial, freedom of expression, the right to protection from torture or degrading treatment and the right to privacy are not protected by law.'

"The creation of a WA Human Rights Act would mean that certain rights would have to be considered and observed by all levels of government.''

Darryl Wookey, Maxine Murray, Joe McDonald and Julian Grill would all be dumbfounded by the hypocrisy of these statements.

It is a bit like Hitler saying Jews, gypsies and homosexuals should have basic human rights while he ships them off to the death camps, or Stalin defending the freedom and private property rights of the Ukrainian Kulaks, while he confiscates their farms and wipes 7 million of them off the face of the earth.

McGinty showed his private cowardice when he failed to defend fellow unionist Joe McDonald’s expulsion from the ALP. Was McDonald, a former union comrade-in-arms, given the opportunity to put his case? Wasn’t he denied basic natural justice – to be able to answer his detractors before being summarily expelled from the ALP. Here is a blatant case of human rights being ignored for political expediency.

Julian Grill was expelled from the ALP in a similar manner. He was not given the opportunity to put his case – because his detractors knew they would probably have been humiliated. When these rights were denied, what protestations were heard from McGinty the erstwhile Bill of Rights promoter and defender of natural justice and basic human rights?

Grill was hauled before the Legislative Assembly and found guilty of contempt without being given an opportunity to put his case or respond to his detractors. Where again was McGinty the defender of human right and natural justice? Expediency seems to give way to principle each time.

Powers which our Attorney General does not even use to tackle organised crime, are used against ordinary citizens and have never been used to my knowledge against anyone in the Left of the ALP.

The powers McGinty has given to the Corruption and Crime Commission are the type of power George Bush would sanction and promote. Many of the powers have parallels in Bush's notorious Patriots Act.

McGinty’s support for draconian power is not new. Have a close look at the Prostitution Bill 1999 which McGinty supported, where totalitarian-state type powers were given to police to tackle a few street prostitutes - powers that weren’t available for police to tackle organised crime. Organised crime carried on with immunity in this state.

McGinty is an enigma, he publicaly postures about human rights and natural justice, but hasn’t the courage or will to defend abuses of those rights. Some would say he has actively supported the denial of those rights.

The ALP denied people basic rights during the 1950’s and 60’s. In recent years, it has slipped back into old habits and recently got shamelessly worse.

The late Kim Beasley Snr constantly fought off efforts to expel him in the 1950’s and 60’s because he belonged to Moral Rearmament. A movement opposed by the anti-religious, socialist left atheists. Kim Beasley snr wasn’t even one of those dreaded Catholics who were despised by the ALP Left in the 1950 and 60's because their anti-communist stance.

Keith Dowding Snr and a blind lawyer John Henshaw were also expelled from the ALP. The crime of both men was to oppose the White Australia Policy strongly supported by the “enlightened” unions.

Others like Dr John Troy, who was dis-endorsed from the safe seat of Fremantle because he supported the Palestinian cause. He just wanted some balance in the ALP approach. The recent sacrifices to political expediency are a throwback to a rather sick era.

The citizens most in need of a Bill of Rights are the dwindling membership of the Australian Labor Party.

Pulping Our Future - Lobbying Tasmanian Style

Leadership Vacuum Fosters Lobbying and "Consultants"

If you thought lobbying in WA was a bit "on-the-nose", then spare a thought for our Tasmanian friends. As in Western Australia, lobbying in Tasmania has become a vital service because of the dumbing-down of those in political office and their acolytes.

If there is no-one on the government payroll who is prepared to help or assist, then companies and individuals have no alternative but to turn to private lobbyists. They will always do this reluctantly, because they have to pay for the service!

I'm told a mining company was having a huge problem recently with the Tasmanian bureaucracy. Who could they turn to? The Premier is the Minister for Mines, and no-one can see him because he is the Premier. There has been no adviser for mines since the previous Deputy Premier (then Minister for Mines) was sacked. So they turned to another government staff member (a proactive one heaven forbid!). If that person had not been available, they would have had to use a private service - if they could find one - and pay for it. The staffer was effectively the lobbyist.

If governments were available and prepared to listen to industry and constituents, there would be no need for lobbyists. Recently the Tasmanian Labor Government employed a "consultant" to help them with problems in the delivery of health services, the "consultant" they employed was former Labor Premier Doug Lowe. Is he not a lobbyist by another name?

The big issue recently has been the $1.5 billion Gunns pulp mill proposal. Gunns have a former Liberal Premier Robin Gray on their board to do their lobbying. Gunns has openly employed former Upper House independent member Tony Fletcher as a lobbyist. Fletcher has been quite heavy-handed and was reported recently in the "Mercury" to have reduced one female MLC to tears. No-one kicked up a fuss about that.

Have a close look at who are in positions of influence in Western Australia; many are Labor Party hacks that the Desert Rat wouldn't feed. Many do nothing in their positions but collect their fees. Most are of no help when problems need to be resolved.

The problem for very successful lobbyists like Burke and Grill is, that if you're too influential - even in a constructive and positive sense, those with the reins of power who feel threatened by your influence or worse will hate you, and shall try to curtail or destroy that influence - in an effort to reassert their own.

Politicians are lobbied by all and sundry. The decisions politicians make are what is important and they need to satisfy themselves they have taken the best course of action.

Why Lobbyists Flourished under the McGinty's Labor

Is the CCC Dealing with the Symptoms of Dysfunctional Government?

The Desert Rat thinks that if the government and its ministers were available and prepared to listen, lobbyists would be unnecessary. The Crime and Corruption Commission, investigating the lobbying activities of Messrs Burke and Grill, is dealing with the symptoms of dysfunctional government.

We got along quite well without lobbyists for most of our political history. However the strong view coming through from WA industry is that the recent State Labor Government Ministers do not want to know them.

In WA in the 1980's most lobbyists were industry and public interest groups. Farmers, miners, unions, conservationists, the hotel industry, local government, school and church groups were prominent. Doctors lobbied mainly on health issues, etc. There were no private lobbyists.

During the Court Government years former Opposition Leader Barry McKinnon offered a lobbying service which I think was based mainly on introductions to Ministers and helping clients navigate through the labyrinthine public service.

Lobbying actually burgeoned under the Gallop (McGinty) Government. The reason why, was because business could not get decisions out of the Gallop-McGinty and Carpenter-McGinty Cabinets or Ministers. Geoff Gallop stated very clearly when he became Premier that his would be a process driven government. That was the genesis of the problem.

An insipid, risk-averse style of leadership has remained through the Carpenter Gvernment. That meant decision making would be largely run by the public service with interminable committees and inquiries. Ministers would take a back seat or vetting role. Business no longer had effective access to ministers. This approach partly stemmed from the Gallop-McGinty antipathy to business. This aversion led to business turning to lobbyists and this led to the flourishing of lobbying in WA in recent years.

The Gallop - McGinty's sentiments may have theoretical attraction, but don't expect public servants to make decisions if they think or know their Ministers and the Premier will desert them or leave them stranded at the first sign of political trouble or turmoil. Gallop's attitude to business was evidenced by his refusal to make time to meet with Paul Anderson the then new CEO of BHP, when he visited Perth at a time when BHP was considering closing the massive HBI plant at Port Hedland.

Business complained that even where they finally saw Geoff Gallop no-one ever got a decision. His Ministers were rarely proactive or took the initiative. The result was frustration particularly in the business community. Tony Howarth and Miles Kennedy, two respected WA businessmen both said in television interviews, that the Gallop and Carpenter Government were the least accessible government they had ever experienced and that was why business resorted to lobbyists. It is in that atmosphere, that many groups frustrated by a public service that had no political leadership, turned to lobbyists to push their case and interests.

Grill and Burke were the Government’s problem solvers - and came up with win - win solutions. That was the key to their success. When a government leaves a vacuum in terms of decision making, society needs 'movers and shakers' people like Burke and Grill in order to ensure that progress can occur. The more people involved in making a decision the less chance you have of someone taking responsibility and making the decision.

The developing problem of the Carpenter-McGinty Government is they are more concerned with hiding problems than fixing them. - that concerns the Desert Rat.

Exposing Carpenter's Secret DIA(bolical?) Report

Challenge for new FOI Commissioner Lightowlers

A test is looming for John Lightowlers the new Freedom of Information (FOI) Commissioner when he makes the decision, whether or not to release the Report into the Department of Indigenous Affairs (DIA). The Minister for Transparent Government Alan Carpenter wants the report kept secret. Not that the decision is yet before Lightowlers, but the Desert Rat has sniffed the air and knows of at least two FOI applications that are on foot on this subject. Both have been refused after a review by Eileen McCaffrey, one of the myriad of managers in the Department of Premier & Cabinet (P&C).

The decision to review the DIA was a diversion and part of the spin at the time. It was quickly hatched during the embarrassing publicity about child abuse and neglect, inadequate housing, truancy and lawlessness in Halls Creek exposed by journalist Steve Pennells of "The West Australian'. Although the inquiry was announced as a diversion to make the Gallop Government look as though it was taking action; examining its departmental and policy failures in Indigenous affairs, it did allow critics of the Gallop-Carpenter policy vacuum in Indigenous affairs and put forward ideas of reform.

Submissions were lodged, but no acknowledgement letters received. Has courtesy been banned in P&C? The Report was duly handed to the Premier by Dawn Casey the Indigenous chairperson and head bonecatcher at the WA Museum. Apparently grumpy Carpenter doesn't like it and is being precious and won't release it.

Eileen McCaffrey an organisational boffin in P&C, who has been on the public service merry-go-round on a salary level up in the clouds has told the public stickybeaks that they can't have it. It appears she thinks the report may be a threat to Cabinet solidarity - heaven forbid! She invokes an exemption that maintains that because the report has been to Cabinet she needs to protect confidential discussions in Cabinet and consultations between Ministers.

Well, interested citizens have only asked for the report, not a 'big brother' transcript of the factional infighting between Cabinet ministers discussing how to banish poor Dawn Casey's report from the house - without a public vote.

The next hoop the applicants have to jump through, is an Internal Review of Eileen McCaffrey's decision to refuse release of the report. This will be done by another P&C apparachik with an even higher salary - above the clouds. We already know what the answer will be, so that why it's headed for our new Independent 'Acting' Commissioner John Lightowlers.

This will be an interesting Catch 22 test for Mr Lightowlers. If he releases the report - he's an independent good guy but won't be in the acting position for long. If he refuses then maybe our worst fear could be confirmed.

Carpenter's decision not to release the report is and affront to all those who made submissions and contributed to the review process, believing it to be an open inquiry whose report would be made public. Carpenter has demonstrated that he is bereft of any ideas or initiative in Aboriginal affairs and is going to make dam sure that Dawn Casey's, and no-one elses ideas for that matter , are going to see the light of day. His own record is one of abject failure in every area of Indigenous policy. More on that later.

McGinty Appoints Insider to Replace Sacked Wookey

John Lightowlers the new FOI Commissioner

The Desert Rat is thoroughly underwhelmed by the appointment of John Lightowlers the General Counsel in the Department of Premier and Cabinet as the new Freedom of Information Commissioner. Lightowlers may well be competent but many would regard him as too close to the government.

Will Lightowlers, a government insider, be fiercely independent in his new position or will he be just another team player? Will Lightowlers need to have one eye on the ball (information) and the other on McGinty - as was Wookey's problem? One wrong move and your gone?

The appointment of someone from inside the Department of Premier and Cabinet is not what the public needs. How do we make sense of all this other than to conclude McGinty wants to have control over anything that has the potential to embarrass him? With such an unflattering ministerial record, he needs to keep the lid on what has been happening in his portfolios.

The new FOI appointment comes after announcing the sacking of the Acting FOI Commissioner Darryl Wookey, on the pretext that the office being downgraded - code for Wookey presumably failing to do her job to McGinty's satisfaction.

McGinty appointed Wookey for four consecutive one-year acting appointments as FOI Commissioner and cut her pay before he discovered she was not up to the job. Is that dumb management or having the 'Sword of Damocles' hanging over someone's head? Was Wookey's salary cut, presumably because McGinty wanted a person of lesser status to run the FOI office. It doesn't make sense that Lightowlers will be on a much higher salary (Level 9) than Darryl Wookey - to fill such a downgraded position. The new appointment has the hallmarks of McGinty in a state of panic.

What, no media release for the announcement!!