It seems we take our life in our hands every time we drive on New South Wales roads because a huge number of other drivers are unlicensed. Every day the police book at least forty people for driving with a cancelled license and another two hundred P plate holders lose their license each week for demerit points excess or speeding offences. When those caught driving without a license appear before a court the usual outcome is the imposition of another fine or the extension of the driving disqualification. Almost amusingly - failure to pay these fines results in automatic license suspension.
What seems to go unnoticed is the fact that both general car insurance and the compulsory Green Slip accident cover require the vehicle to be driven by a licensed driver for the cover to apply. This means that ordinary people run the risk of losing help and compensation in recovering from accident injuries if the other drive is unlicensed - and that can deliver financial ruin. Sadly, there seems no way to keep those unlicensed off the roads because in the majority of cases their attitude simply "doesn't give a dam " ! They consider getting behind the wheel a "right " - and will continue to drive nomatter what conditions a judge imposes.
Many citizens will be mystified by the events that have surrounded what has become known as the "Margaret Cunneen affair ". Margaret Cunneen is a top crown prosecutor and when her son's girlfriend was involved in a minor car accident she was accused of advising her to claim chest pains to require immediate hospital attention, thus avoiding an on the spot breath test. This claim was denied.
ICAC became relentless in pursuing this investigation and finally the matter went before the High Court, which issued a finding that ICAC had "strayed beyond it's powers " in the Cunneen matter. One would have thought that a ruling by this country's highest judicial body would have settled the question, but ICAC then flick passed it to the DPP for further investigation and possible prosecution..
To many, this looked to have an aspect of personal animosity and settlement of grudges and as a consequence the ICAC Commission scheduled a hearing and called the head of ICAC to appear before it and answer questions. It seems astonishing that this Commissioner is refusing to answer and claims that her bosses do not have the power to ask questions about a specific ICAC investigation .
If the parliament of this state - which appoints the ICAC Commissioner - is deemed to have no oversight of the top investigative crime body and no right to question it's decisions - and the findings of the High Court are to be set aside and ignored - then we have a dangerous situation where a body with great powers is running out of control and is capable of pursuing it's own agenda.
The entire system of justice originated from Magna Carta and consists of overlapping reviews of all decisions reached in the various court levels. There is the expectation that the rule of law will apply in all circumstances, and the fact that the state is knowingly making no serious attempt to curb the vast numbers of people putting other citizens at risk by driving without a license is no less serious than a body like ICAC which ignores the law and seeks to impose it's own interpretation of justice at the whim of those directing it's actions.
We are seeing a logical outcome of the lack of constraint between the framing of rules and public expectations in the rorts being exposed in Federal parliament. Vast sums of public money have been expended by parliamentarians in what can only be termed junkets or "public holidays " they enjoy, accompanied by their spouses and children. The fact that these fall within the guidelines that are applied to travel is a sure indication that these rules fall far short of the expectations of those who pay taxes to fund our government.
Now that this Pandora's box has been opened, the public will not be satisfied until firm action has been taken to restore confidence that the rule of law again applies equally - and to all !
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