I was going to write an article about Barnaby’s Dam Scam – I may still later – but it struck me that all this exposing of dubious grants and dodgy contracts is missing the bigger point that our government doesn’t seem to even know what it is for.
They want “small government” but aren’t suggesting we need less of the political class. They just want less to do apparently. They want to “get out of the way”, leave it to us and the market and “technology”. Meanwhile, they spend their time canvassing each other and their donors for random wish lists to spend all the money on.
It seems to me, that isn’t going so well.
Years ago, I read an essay titled The Responsibilities of Government. I cannot find it on the internet anywhere except where I quoted it in an article I wrote in 2013 when the spectre of an Abbott government had become awful reality. I knew Tony wasn’t up to the job so thought I should remind him of the role a government should play.
Governments have not been fulfilling their responsibilities for many years but this lot have given up any pretence of being motivated by the best interests of the people – unless they are ‘their’ people.
This is an excerpt from that original essay that should remind us all what we have a right to expect from our government:
“The government of a democracy is accountable to the people. It must fulfil its end of the social contract. And, in a practical sense, government must be accountable because of the severe consequences that may result from its failure. As the outcomes of fighting unjust wars and inadequately responding to critical threats such as global warming illustrate, great power implies great responsibility.
The central purpose of government in a democracy is to be the role model for, and protector of, equality and freedom and our associated human rights. For the first, government leaders are social servants, since through completing their specific responsibilities they serve society and the people. But above and beyond this they must set an ethical standard, for the people to emulate. For the second, the legal system and associated regulation are the basic means to such protection, along with the institutions of the military, for defence against foreign threats, and the police.
Government economic responsibility is also linked to protection from the negative consequences of free markets. The government must defend us against unscrupulous merchants and employers, and the extreme class structure that results from their exploitation.
Governments argue that people need to be assisted with the economic competition that now dominates the world. But the real intent of this position is to justify helping corporate interests . . . siding against local workers, consumers and the environment.
Another general role, related to the need for efficiency, is the organization of large-scale projects. It is for this benefit that we accept government involvement in the construction of society’s infrastructure, including roads, posts and telecommunications, and water, sewage and energy utilities. Further, giving government charge over these utilities guarantees that they remain in public hands, and solely dedicated to the common good. If such services are privatized, the owners have a selfish motivation, which could negatively affect the quality of the services.
That such assets should have public ownership is expressed in the idea of the “commons.” They should be owned by and shared between the members of the current population, and preserved for future generations.
Indeed, while we of course still need a means of defence, including against both external and internal (criminal) aggressors, it seems clear that our greatest need for protection is from other institutions and from the abuses of government itself, particularly its collusion with these other institutions. (Many of the needs that we now have for government are actually to solve the problems that it creates.)”
We deserve better than the ScoMo Beetrooter muppet show.
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