To Absent Friends

Idealism Unclean, Sacrificed Justice and Paradise Lost?

The inactivity generally of Western Australian lawyers, academics and "intellectuals" following the contempt for natural justice and fair play and the carnage caused by the political activists at Corruption and Crime Commission is a reflection of the selfishness of our society.

Too much power always results in excesses. Surely there must be good people in the CCC who are appalled at the bias and disregard of the CCC senior officers for fairness and proper treatment of those it investigates.

Who stood up for Michael Moodie?
Who questioned his and many others treatment in the hands of the CCC?

The famous statement attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) could equally apply to the Corruption and Crime Commission activities.

They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

Where are the civil libertarians in the Labor movement or are they all just lining up for parliamentary careers and too scared to offend the controlling and powerful Left?

The gutless are frightened by strength and consequence and are stricken by fear. They eschew justice for the safety of the gang, loyalty to the strong - not the just. Weakness against tyranny is their hallmark.

Let' lament absent friend's, not in Robbie Burns the working mans' poet's words, but those another Scot who evoked the Australian spirit:

"Absent Friends!" -- The lost legion that lies in the grave;
The friends who were false and the friends we forgave, --
Whose words had the edge of the enemy's knife,
To torture the heart and poison the life; --
The friend who lay dying and never could know
That we loved at the last as we loved long ago!

So each across his wine-cup bends,
And silently, and tearfully,
We pledge our "Absent Friends!"
Will H. Ogilvie (1869- 18630

The Farce of Regulating Lobbying

Lobbyists - Business as usual

Legislation to "control" lobbyist in Western Australia has always been ineffective. Geoff Gallop's puny register of lobbyists nets only about 10% of lobbyists actively working in Western Australia.

Independent Liz Constable's two very potent and probably very effective Bills were both ignored by the Labor and Liberal Governments. The Corruption and Crime Commission has failed to have a public or private inquiry into lobbying and its extent in Western Australia. Such an inquiry would have been more effective than the pursuit of high profile political enemies of the ruling elite of the time.

Readers may be surprised to know that some of our most prominent lobbyists are former Prime Ministers.

Bob Hawke has sold his lobbying services to many foreign governments. He was a regular golf partner of the Burmese Generals in his early days. In recent years he has praised the military junta and been silent on Aung San Suu Kyi and didn't raise human rights on his most recent visit.

Paul Keating has long had a client list of foreign governments and government controlled company on his consulting services list going back many years. One company of which he was a lobbyist or shall we use the euphemism "business associate" was a Chinese Government company Aldoga Aluminium Smelter Pty Ltd.

Kevin Rudd became a lobbyist after he fell out with Queensland Premier Wayne Goss. Rudd was his Principal Private Secretary. Rudd promptly went to work for the Chinese Government consulting in Africa.

What Chinese interest was Rudd serving when he went to the Sudan on the Chinese Government's behalf when the Sudanese government backed militia were slaughtering refugees in Dafur?

Former Prime Ministers and other politicians should not be allowed to work as lobbyists without some form of effective parliamentary oversight.

We certainly have not got that in WA - by design, the Desert Rat thinks.

Michael Moodie loses everything - McGinty rewarded

Phoney CCC charges thrown out of Court - Moodie vindicated but broke, no job and poor health

Michael Moodie who was central to attempts to bring some accountability to Jim McGinty's IT bungles at WA Health, paid a heavy price for his efforts.

Moodie the fearless bureaucrat was crushed by a fruitless Corruption and Crime Commission prosecution which left him penniless, bankrupt and still without a job at WA Health, despite being found innocent.

Why was Moodie really prosecuted?

Moodie's trouble started in 2006 when he was put in charge of WA Health IT. He uncovered the mess under McGinty Health Ministry and immediately began a searching audit process [Michael's first BIG mistake!].

Moodie demanded that Treasury run the tender process.

Moodie also uncovered that Fujitsu was preparing the WA Health Department tender "in such a manner that would ensure an ongoing role for itself - a yearly contract of some millions".

Veteran Nationals MP Max Trenorden said in the Legislative Council that the charges brought against Michael Moodie were nothing more than a side show, a diversion to to get him out of the Department of Health and finish him off financially, to destroy him.

The Desert Rat believes Michael Moodie was the goods, and IT in WA Health would be quite vibrant if he were still there. He was shafted first by the doctors at PMH and then by senior health bureaucrats and finished off by the Corruption and Crime Commission - under McGinty's watch.

Without the maverick Michael Moodie, the culture of intransigence and wasting money which was the hallmark of WA Health under Jim McGinty, continued.

Why hasn't Moodie been reinstated in his WA Health job after being found innocent? Double jeopardy. Was he fucked-over because he wasperceived as an enemy of the State - like Grill and Burke?

Meanwhile unrivaled fool and Left Labor hero Jim McGinty (the former Health Minister) who stuffed-up badly on many fronts (including this one) is now advising Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon.

What financial black holes has Roxon given this idiot to superintend?

The Desert Rat presumes this sinecure is worth at least $200 000 a year - plus more?? This, on top of his $2 million plus parliamentary superannuation payout?

The Desert Rat regards this as double dipping on a grand scale. What next? An Order of Australia for services to the nation?

Sad greedy people.

Incompetent McGinty's Improper Conduct Costs Taxpayers $115 million

No CCC Inquiry over health record shambles.

During former Labor Minister Jim McGinty's stewardship of WA Health, the Auditor General has revealed that not only did he hand out a $115 million contract for an electronic health records system without a tender, but he also failed to have a business case prepared to justify that expenditure - as required by his own Health Act.

Bit Smelly?

Will the Corruption and Crime Commission Chairman Len Roberts Smith inquire into this improper conduct or possible corruption?

The decision by Jim McGinty and WA Health to award the Patients Admission System (PAS) to British Company iSoft without a tender was a disgrace. WA Health called a meeting of all prospective vendors at which it was expected that the tender would be announced. Instead WA Health said there would be no tender and that they had already awarded the work to iSoft.

Bit smelly?

Imagine if Brian Burke or Julian Grill did this. The CCC and Robert's Smith would be down on them like a tonne of bricks, investigating for evidence of a kick backs, corruption and improper conduct.

As well as criticising the omission in awarding the contract, under Jim McGinty's stewardship the Auditor General said WA Health failed to monitor the contract, he criticised the alarming inadequacy, sometime absence of important financial records. Incompetence after bungling incompetence is documented in the Auditor General's report. see www.audit.wa.gov.au

The contempt for taxpayers by these braggadocios and their foolish incompetence is no surprise to the Desert Rat.

The Auditor General clearly lays the blame at Jim McGinty's feet when as Health Minister Parliament appropriated $335 million for the electronic health records system in 2004 but McGinty stuffed it up; he dropped the ball.

Jim McGinty it would seem has political immunity when it come to investigation by the CCC - why?