Crispin Hull

The NSW Royal commission shows how corruption starts small and gets worse. It shows the importance of nipping bad police practices in the bud, before they become entrenched and systemic.

The key reason the commission was successful was that it refused to use any NSW police at all in its investigation. Past inquiries failed because inquiring police tipped off their mates. Instead the commission used the Australian Federal Police.

The top brass in the AFP have a fair idea of the need to cull out bad police very early, but they are facing some difficulty.
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At last I no longer have to tiptoe through Windows. I have got Windows to run as its should _ no thanks to Microsoft.

Windows for Workgroups is worse that Windows but both programs have a habit of frequently bombing out with General Protection Errors or Application Errors. Inevitably it would erase some critical data _ the 1990s equivalent of Coleridge being interrupted by a visitor after composing the first verse of Kubla Khan and never being able to get the words right again. Two new programs have done the trick: MagnaRam and RamGate.

MagnaRam compresses code as it goes in and out of memory. It makes Windows work faster and use less memory. For example I now have Word 6, Excel, Lotus Organizer, FaxWorks and a special Canberra Times program open and I still have 31 per cent of computer resources available. I also have Plug-In running. Among other things this warns you if resources are running low.
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Parliament is now up till August and so it is now a fairly safe bet to assume there will not be a double dissolution and that only half the Senate is up for re-election at the next election.Technically, the Constitution does not permit a double dissolution after November 4. Even so a trigger is needed in the form of the Senate twice rejecting (or failing to pass) legislation twice passed by the House with a three month gap.

It is unlikely the Government would want to use existing blocked taxes as the trigger and there is not enough time to set up a new one. How does a half-Senate election suit the major players?

It should favour the Labor Party; be fairly neutral for the Coalition and not be kind to the Democrats.
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We now have two Governments in Australia which got power with a minority of votes and which owe their existence to the donkey vote. The Carr Government in NSW and the Goss Government in Queensland both scraped home with one-seat majorities.

The counting in Queensland ended on Tuesday with the last seat won by Labor by 16 votes. In March, the NSW Labor Government won its majority with the last few seats being determined by a few hundred votes. Let’s go first to the minority-vote issue; then to the donkey vote.

In NSW Labor got a majority with only 48.8 per cent of the vote. In Queensland it got a majority with 47.7 per cent. (Estimates vary a little, but all are at least 1 per cent and 2 per cent under 50 per cent respectively.)
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The Governor of Queensland is in a different position from the Governor of other states and the Governor-General.In 1977 the Bjelke-Petersen Government (with its large majority in a single-House Parliament) put through an amendment to the Constitution Act which spelt out some elements of the exercise of the Governor’s reserve powers. In other states and the Commonwealth, the Governor relies purely on convention.

The general convention is that the Governor follows the advice of the Premier. (In this analysis Governor includes Governor-General and Premier includes Prime Minister and Chief Minister.)

There are four situations where the Governor ceases to be merely an opener of fetes and has to act as umpire of the political game:

1. When a Premier seeks an early election.

2. When a Premier is defeated on the floor of the House in a vote of no-confidence.

3. When two Houses of Parliament are in deadlock and the Government cannot get its money Bills through.

4. When an election is indecisive.
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Paul Keating, both as Treasurer and Prime Minister, has prided himself on being across the economic debate and capable of addressing Australia’s economic problems. For a long time he carried credibility among opinion leaders and respect (if begrudging) from the public. Over a decade, the credibility and respect have eroded as Mr Keating’s name was associated with the banana republic, the J curve, bringing home the bacon, effervescence, the big canvas, the economic levers, the soft landing, the recession we had to have, and now sustainable economic growth.

In that decade Mr Keating derided the commentators as they began to see it differently from him. And now he is impatient with the masses for not seeing the economy in the same light as he does. That was revealed on the John Laws talk-back radio program _ one of the largest mass audiences in the country.
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The Chief Justice, Sir Gerard Brennan issued a warning this week about the state of the rule of law in Australia. He lamented that many lawyers were not taking up judicial appointment or were postponing it for a long time. It was resulting in a short supply of competent judges. The judge did not say it directly, but he must be aware of the reason: lawyers are receiving too much money. Many barristers and solicitors after a fairly short time in the profession are earning more than the chief justice himself.

For many the judiciary offer a pension and prestige but not more money or more interesting work. It offers an opportunity for public service but that comes at the cost of greater personal social isolation.
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The licensed clubs in the ACT are alarmed about the prospect of poker machines being allowed in the Canberra Casino. The casino is the only on in Australia not to have them, but that is not a conclusive argument. Each place has its own characteristics which must be considered.

The central difficulty for the clubs is that a large part of their income is derived from poker machines; they have become almost dependent upon them. In effect they have become dependent upon a statutory monopoly. It is a dangerous base for any economic activity because it is be can be taken away. It is beyond the control of the business. Other businesses are in the same situation _ taxis, for example, and to a lesser extent the suburban service station in Canberra which got a monopolies through planning laws.
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The latest pay deal for Senior Executive Service (SES) officers appears to be yet another step away from a public-service culture (in the best sense of the words). Under the deal, secretaries of Commonwealth departments have been handed very large discretionary power over what SES officers are paid. The arrangement was made with the concurrence of the Community and Public Sector Union, which is surprising.

According to a union bulletin, all public servants will get 5.6 per cent over 18 months. All SES officers will get an additional 2 per cent.

SES officers will get a further 4.6 per cent individually unless the Secretary decides to the contrary. The upper end of each band will be lifted 6.3 per cent, but the increase will not apply to individuals unless the Secretary agrees.
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The dismal showing of Japan’s Socialist Prime Minster, Tomiichi Murayama, at the weekend’s Upper House election brings into question his ability to continue in office, though he has vowed to make his way through what he said were “rough seas”.

Mr Murayama heads a bizarre coalition with the conservative Liberal-Democrat Party to form a majority in the Lower House. The coalition was always one of convenience and necessity rather than of any sense of pursuing a cohesive policy direction.

Half of the Upper House’s 252 seats were up for re-election. Of the 126 seats the coalition got 65, but the Socialists scored only a fairly dismal 16 of those, down from 41 three years ago. The Liberal-Democratic Party got 46 up from 33 last time.
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