The 10 Most Corrupt Countries

4th Reason - Pork-barrelling - utilising the Public Purse on projects to win votes has been rife and unchecked for too long

Danielle Wood CEO of the Grattan Institute article Grey corruption cuts our living standards ....... - Feb 2022 notes "Decades of economic research have illuminated the relationship between government corruption and economic stagnation. It has also identified the Reason corruption is such a handbrake on growth." It lists the following four consequences of government corruption:

a) Increases uncertainty around investment decisions

b) Influences the level and type of government spending.

c) Results in more red tape and regulation.

d) Erode some forms of “civic” or “social capital” – essentially the trust between fellow citizens.

Political parties spending taxpayer money on campaign advertising "A Grattan Institute report released 10 Oct 2022 confirms what we all suspected: that government spending on taxpayer-funded ads consistently spikes in the lead-up to elections."

Politicised taxpayer-funded advertising "Weaponising taxpayer-funded advertising for political advantage wastes public money, undermines trust in politicians and democracy, and creates an uneven playing field in election campaigns. Something has to change."

Michelle Grattan (University of Canberra) article "Crossbencher, Helen Haines, on Morrison and integrity" (August 2022) includes -

"She argues that “public money being spent for political gain through so-called rorting or pork barrelling is potentially corruption.”

5th Reason - Stealing from the Public Purse for one's own political gain is no different to stealing from one's employer for personal gain

If an employee embezzles $100,000 or so from his/her employer and is apprehended, he/she will be Sentenced to a term in jail as Punishment and as a Deterrent to others. If a brazen bank robber steals at gun point say $40,000, he/she would also be Sentenced a similar Punishment for their theft.

Australia's laws have to change to render politicians that steal from the Public Purse for their own personal benefit, or their party's benefit, on projects to win votes, without submitting a Conforming Cost-Benefit Analysis to the Productivity Commission well prior to execution of financing documents and construction contracts, should be similarly subject to jail incarceration Punishment if the Politician/s cannot refund the wasted millions or billions. Australia's legislators have been slow to learn from political corruption in NSW.

The pertinent State or Treasury Minister/s could be litigated under both criminal law and civil law if she, he or they failed to provide a CC-BA, and the particular costly project was found to be materially uneconomical – meaning the construction and operating costs were far greater than patronage revenues from travelling passengers/users/vehicles, and alternative bus transport was demonstrably cheaper and more flexible to 'user demands':

· The pertinent State or Territory ‘Treasury Dept’ that provided funding for the infrastructure project could litigate the Minister/s for financial damages if it was found that the pertinent Minister/s failed to undertake requisite ‘due diligence’ by submitting a Conforming Cost-Benefit Analysis, but rather exhibited gross negligence and willful misconduct in appraising the utility of the infrastructure project and the project failed to achieve the Minister’s claims/assurances.

· A Class Action could be run through the civil courts against the particular Minister/s by citizens that suffered a financial loss as a result of the particular State or Territory infrastructure project, provided independent appraisals reported that the infrastructure project was largely concocted on the back of an envelope without having lined up requisite Wooden Ducks specified in a Conforming Cost-Benefit Analysis.

8th Reason - No state or territory is immune from irresponsible planning of major infrastructure projects during recent years to the detriment of the Public Purse:
News.com article Taxpayers pick up tab for billions wasted on megaproject blowout bungles (May 2021) evidences that no state or territory has displayed responsible planning of major infrastructure projects

NSW
In Nov 2013 the NSW Government announced the business case details for a Central Business District and South East Light Rail ("CLSER"), with an estimated cost of $1.6 billion, and purportedly almost $4 billion worth of benefits. The NSW Auditor-General Report dated 11 June 2020 estimated total cost to be $3.147 billion - virtually double the original cost forecast as in Nov 2013, the project business case summary estimated the CSELR would cost $1.6 billion. Legal battles cost NSW Govt to settle with the Spanish contractor, Acciona, an additional $576 million. CSELR was completed a year late causing significant traffic disruption to businesses and residents. $60 million was paid out for the small business assistance package due to extended disruption. Refer History of CSELR cost increases and construction delays.

Creative accounting hides $4b WestConnex blowout - NSW Auditor General reveals.

On 15 May 2022 the NSW Govt has announced it will tunnel 11km into the Blue Mountains from Blackheath to Little Hartley (upper Blue Mountains) relying upon an “in-depth feasibility analysis and extensive investigation process” that “confirmed the 11-kilometre toll-free tunnel from Blackheath to Little Hartley as the preferred option“. This it is public money being expended ‘out in the boondocks’ either side of Mt Victoria in th Upper Blue Mountains - hardly high traffic territory. Is the proclaimed “in-depth feasibility analysis and extensive investigation process” open to public scrutiny? What are the forecast traffic/patronage projections? What are the forecast construction costs? What are the operating costs. What are the tunnel refurb costs every 10 years? What tunnel water leakage costs are anticipated?

The NSW Auditor-General reported that the NSW Govt could have saved up to $25 million on the cost of the $38 million Albert Tibby Cotter Walkway at Moore Park. For over 300 days each year, virtually no one uses it. The former set of traffic lights that crossed ANZAC Pde would have disrupted vehicles only when a big match was being played at the SCG, or former SFS. Traffic lights to enable patrons to cross the light rail to the SCG would similarly only disrupt for a big match, in the same manner that pedestrian traffic lights have disrupted vehicle flows across Australia for at least 60 years.

Victoria
Ballooning costs for Melbourne’s West Gate tunnel that could have been resolved before contracts were signed. Melbourne’s West Gate Tunnel project was awarded to Transurban after the firm approached the Victorian Government with a proposal. However an Auditor-General's report questioned whether the project should have been put out to tender. The project is now running late and costs are rising.

LABOR’S WEST GATE TUNNEL CHAOS CONTINUES WITH LATEST BLOWOUT.
Former CEO of V/Line, James Pinder, charged with four allegations of misconduct in public office, four charges of receiving secret commissions, and one charge of conspiracy to solicit secret commissions, the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission’s (IBAC) says. Mr Pinder and a former manager at Metro Trains are among seven people charged following an investigation by IBACC into serious corrupt conduct in V/Line and Metro’s tendering and procurement processes.

Queensland

"Queensland’s “New Generation Rolling stock” debacle was due to rushing to market; a stunning display of ineptitude. Qld's fancy new trains were ordered to a specification determined by the Queensland Government that breached Queensland’s own laws, as they did not meet disability access legislation with the ludicrous result that a wheelchair user might not be able to squeeze between the seats to get to the supposedly disabled loos, which were in fact inaccessible for some disabled passengers. The $4.4bn trains were essentially illegal with the state paying $361m to rectify the bodge job."

South Australia

"South Australia's largest infrastructure project, North-South Corridor project, with planning underway for the section between Torrens and Darlington, has suffered delays and cost blow outs with the completion date pushed backed to 2031. "It was $9.9 billion prior to the state election which the Labor Party won. $15 billion is now being spruiked."

Western Australia

"WA’s Auditor General uncovered nearly $600 million worth of cost blowouts in selected state government projects — with the completion date for nearly half the works pushed back by a year or more. For the second time in two years the McGowan Government was also whacked over its lack of transparency over major infrastructure projects, with Auditor General, Caroline Spencer, again appealing for more regular publicly released progress updates. The Office of the Auditor General examined 17 major projects and found their combined budgets had ballooned from $5.11 billion when originally approved to $5.67 billion, an increase of 11 per cent. Of 14 active projects audited, seven had their completion dates extended by a year or more — including the Forrestfield-Airport Link and Geraldton Health Campus redevelopment, neither of which is expected to open until two and a half years beyond its original completion date."

Tasmania

Fourfold budget blowout for promised Greencard overhaul - The Mercury, Tasmania - 24 June 2022

$300 million Marinus cost blowout - The National Tribune - 24 June 2022

Labor might recover the taste for reform that characterised the Hawke-Keating years.

garry.bowditch@sydney.edu.au

all five mainland states