Thursday 15 April 2010

The buck stops - where ?

A former American president had a sign on his desk which famously said - " The buck stops here ! "

It seems that sort of thinking has been replaced in sorting the blame for the disgraceful F-3 incident on Monday that saw a traffic jam that extended for up to twelve hours - because a relief factor was not promptly used.

The person at the top of the transport totem pole is the minister, David Campbell - but the axe fell on the head of the Roads and Traffic Authority ( RTA ), who has been suspended on full pay - while the minister walks away " whistling Dixie ".

Politicians seem immune from responsibility for the wrong doing of their departments and the classical example of this was the insulation disaster presided over by Peter Garrett.

That cost the taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and is still causing uncertainty in people's minds as to the fire safetyof their homes - and yet the responsible minister has just been shunted sideways.

Just what level of disaster does it take for responsibility to find a home at the apex of power ?

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