Opinion: Accountability in politics is officially dead
It's critical to a functioning democracy, but this ingredient is sorely lacking in Queensland politics, writes Kylie Lang.
Kylie Lang
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If, as Sir Winston Churchill said, the price of greatness is responsibility, then Queensland is run by a bunch of duds.
For as long as our politicians avoid responsibility, there will be no accountability and we will be stuck with substandard outcomes.
Accountability shines a light on what’s broken and how to fix it.
While it can be brutal and lead to blame, it is the X-factor when it comes to great leadership.
This past week alone, we’ve seen such little regard for accountability that if our politicians were auditioning for a talent show they wouldn’t even make the first round.
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath finally announced an inquiry into the shambles that is our state’s health system.
But the review will not address the glaring inadequacies and monumental failures of the public system for which she and her Labor government is responsible.
Instead, it will look at the impact of private health, federal funding and other Commonwealth areas such as the NDIS.
It beggars belief until we consider the inquiry’s release date, just two months ahead of the federal election, which is pegged for May.
No prizes for guessing the nature of the findings. The Government’s track record for buck-passing and blaming the Liberal-National Coalition for anything and everything speaks for itself.
What a wasted opportunity for Ms D’Ath and her lot to actually make a difference!
Shamefully, the review will not touch on the state’s ramping crisis, shortage of hospital beds, ridiculous demands on exhausted staff, and lack of mental health and palliative care services.
It won’t address the chronic mismanagement and underperformance of our taxpayer-funded hospitals which are allegedly responsible for needless deaths and disfigurements.
It won’t help people like Elyse Chiles, who wants Queensland Health “held accountable for its disastrous mistakes”.
As I reported in October, Ms Chiles is suing Mackay Hospital and Health Service after her caesarean section went horribly wrong, leaving her with crippling pain.
Three years and 17 surgeries after the birth of her first child, the 26-year-old says she is lucky to be alive.
The inquiry won’t help Joanna Bonaccorso, who got in touch after my story last week on three-year-old Nas Vui, whose toe was amputated in what his father says was a “series of mistakes” Ipswich Hospital has “tried to cover-up”.
Ms Bonaccorso says she has been waiting for a hip replacement at Ipswich Hospital for more than a year and cries daily, not only because she is in pain but also because “I feel like I have been forgotten”.
These people are representative of the reason the public health system exists.
Choosing not to address the system’s failures is as insulting as it is plain wrong.
I’m not saying areas under the Commonwealth umbrella are immune from scrutiny, but the State Government should focus on its own remit.
As AMAQ president Chris Perry says, the inquiry must “investigate areas where the Queensland Government can make a difference to daily outcomes, including providing more hospital beds and staff.”
No such luck. Labor is doing what it does so well – deflecting responsibility and avoiding accountability.
This week, we also learned of state government plans that give rise to potential corruption.
Crime and Corruption Commission boss Alan MacSporran warned of “serious concerns” over exempting certain members of Brisbane’s Olympic Games organising committee from declaring conflicts of interest.
“There is no principled reason why Commonwealth Parliamentarians should be exempted from this accountability regime,” he said.
The Olympics committee, including self-appointed Olympics Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk, has also come under fire from the Information Commissioner over moves to exclude it from the Right to Information Act.
None of this is good enough.
Queenslanders have every right to be fully informed on issues that affect them and how our state is run.
Politicians are elected on the premise they represent the people.
Until we see responsibility accepted and accountability actioned, we will always be at the mercy of leaders who are a long, long way from great.
Kylie Lang is associate editor of The Courier-Mail
LOVE
* The frankness of George Clooney on the fatal shooting by Alec Baldwin of a cinematographer on the set of Rust: “They’ve got the bad guy, which is going to be the first AD (assistant director). I don’t know the guy at all, but I’ve been on sets for 40 years and the person who hands you the gun, the person responsible for the gun, is either the prop person or the armourer. Period.”
LOATHE
* The rise in disordered eating, particularly purging, in females over 40. Some women have life-threatening BMIs as low as 12, requiring hospitalisation. Social media is being blamed for its obsession with losing lockdown weight.
* Slaps on the wrist for youth criminals, including car thieves, who continue to reoffend because they know they will get away with it – and your car.
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