Competence

Following on from my previous post - if anyone out there thinks that State Governments are mostly competent and that anyone agitating for their abolition is pushing excrement uphill - then I ask you to reflect on this.

How is it possible dear reader, that the State of Victoria could have been acting in a competent and professional manner if the recent "2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission" found it necessary to issue sixty seven - yes count them 67 recommendations in its final report?

Sixty Seven recommendations to fix the system - after 173 people died!

If the State Government had been doing its job then no-one would have died and no Royal Commission would have been necessary.

And who - apart from a few bureaucrats lost their jobs over it? Well until now no-one but I suspect that Mr Brumby and his Ministers will get plenty of time to reflect on that over the next few months.

This event was a big deal that showed how *incompetent* this state government had become in just one policy area. But why would anyone think that it is their only failure? And why would anyone imagine that this disease does not extend to the other States and Territories?

It's a problem that extends across all policy areas and all States and Territories. I wonder how is it going to *magically* get any better after 109 years of failure - just by changing the colour of the governing party?

The solution is to find a new governance model - my personal preference is to abolish the states and expand local government - but with real checks and balances and competent administration - but that is probably far too radical for the lucky country.