Fiona McLeod writes on the face of corruption in Australian politics “We are currently witnessing widespread loss of trust in government. Not just in the rapid slide in the popularity of the federal government and the personal standing of the Prime Minister, but the growing mistrust of initiatives and policies designed to manage the crises confronting us and those that are imminent.” Pearls & Irritations, 23 Aug 2021
‘This loss of trust was and remains inevitable, driven by the realisation that we are increasingly being sold spin and obfuscation and our sense that our government is focused more on their prospects at the next election than getting us through these challenging times.
‘It is intensified by the slow but steady revelation of bad behaviour by those who govern, where no one takes responsibility and no one is held to account.
‘In Australia, corruption in Australian politics spends public funds in pursuit of power, rewards favour, and strips support from worthy programs. It silences journalists and those charged with upholding standards of integrity by depriving them of funding.
‘Grift and stacking are commonplace as those chasing influence infiltrate the structures of power. Corruption rewards loyalty through appointments to office and by preferencing those within the favoured network ahead of others of equal or greater talent. It conceals itself through unfit-for-purpose access to information laws and processes, vague budget commitments, the assertion of unchecked executive discretion, a quick media cycle and overburdened parliamentary committees.’
Read the full Pearls & Irritations article – Easy lies and influence: the familiar face of corruption in Australian politics.
Related readings
Easy Lies and Influence – by Fiona McLeod, Monash University Publishing, Aug 2021
Accountability is under threat. Parliament must urgently reset the balance – by Anne Tiernan, The Conversation, 28 Oct 2021
Operation Watts IBAC enquiry into branch stacking practices – Open Labor, Oct 2021
Alan Kohler: The real scandal in the Pandora Papers – by Alan Kohler, Crikey, 7 Oct 2021
Pandora Papers reveal big foreign money secretly behind some prime Australian real estate – ABC News, 5 Oct 2021
Our democracy is decaying from within – by John Menadue, Pearls & Irritations, 16 Sep 2021
The Dirty Country – corruption – a 12 part series by Crikey, Mar 2021
Corrupt, right-wing machine politics are crippling the Australian Labor Party – by Harry Stratton, Jacobin, 24 Jan 2021
How Democracy Ends – by David Runciman, published by Profile, 2018, reviewed by Andrew Rawnsley, The Guardian, 20 May 2018
A pox on both your houses – Andrew Charlton & Lachlan Harris, The Monthly, Dec 2016
Fiona McLeod is a senior counsel and the chair of the Accountability Round Table. She is a former President of the Law Council of Australia and was a Labor candidate for Higgins in 2019. Fiona McCleod’s new book Easy Lies and Influence is available from Monash University Publishing Aug 2021
Leave a Reply