What the Hotel Quarantine inquiry is showing is yet another example of the lack of accountability in our governing processes.
Politician after politician, public servant after public servant, all with memory loss, pointing the finger or denying responsibility.
We have been here before, think Ruby Princess, Lawyer X, the Beetrooters water buybacks, Angus' fake documents, the Aged Care shambles, the $30 million payment to a Liberal party donor for land worth $3 million.
Need I go on?
All these scandals have one common thread, the concept of ministerial accountability appears to be dead and buried.
Even Jackboot Johnnie held his ministers to account. These days government ministers seem content to hide behind things like "Cabinet in Confidence" or not wanting to "comment" on an issue that is before the courts or an inquiry, or " I don't accept the premise of your question".
To be fair to Dan Andrews at least he called an independent inquiry into the quarantine debacle and looks certain to be seriously, if not fatally damaged by its revelations.
Contrast that to the sham sports rorts "inquiry" the PM got the head of his department to conduct that only called two witnesses.
So whats the answer?
Ernesto is not sure but there has been a gradual erosion of principles over the last decade or so and that has been to our nations detriment.
A federal anti-corruption commission would be a good start as would the rehiring of public service department heads who are experts in their specific fields instead of just hiring "good" managers.
I imagine the hotel quarantine mess would not have happened if it had been implemented by healthcare experts instead of the faceless "managers" in the relevant departments.
I'm tipping that if Michael O'Brien was premier while the hotel quarantine program was being put in place he would have got his advice from the same "so called" specialist managers Dan Andrews did and the end result may well have been the same.
But we will never know.
In the meantime, O'Brien should stop his negative whingeing and whining, offer something constructive or shut up.
