Where have all the good politicians gone?

Sussan Ley — and all pollies — must not forget they are servants of the people and hold public trust. The Australian public is crying out for integrity and selfless service.

If the Prime Minister fails to address the culture of political entitlement that has infected Australia, Health Minister Sussan Ley will not be the last politician to fall from grace.

Leaders make culture and have the responsibility of getting the culture right. Making rules alone is not a panacea for a sick culture.

The starting point must be defining what is the correct culture. This must involve a recognition that parliamentarians are servants of the people and that they hold positions of public trust. Service and trust must be paramount considerations that must prevail over personal interest. The concept of public trust must inform any decisions made about the use of public money.

Trustees of foundations and estates must always put the interests of beneficiaries ahead of their own personal interests. Likewise, politicians are custodians of public money and must be very careful in the way in such moneys are spent as they are being spent for the common good of the community who have paid their taxes to raise these moneys.

Health Minister Sussan Ley will not be the last politician to fall from grace over travel entitlements. (Pic: AAP)

Political leaders can best lead by example in setting the culture of service in a selfless way.

Political leaders such as former Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key and former long serving Lord Mayor of Brisbane the late Dr Clem Jones AO have done this.

Both political leaders took office without pay. This is the most stark example of a political leader serving for the benefit for their nation or city and not for personal advantage. It is no coincidence that both political leaders were very popular and very effective.

Another example of selfless service is that of former independent Ted Mack, who served at all three levels of government in Australia with enormous integrity to the extent he personally suffered by refusing to be party to what he called a corrupt parliamentary superannuation scheme.

When Mack left the Commonwealth Parliament, he was required to sell his home to fund his retirement. He was also enormously popular with his electorate.

The public is crying out for the integrity and selfless service of people like Key, Jones and Mack.

John Key. (Pic: New Zealand Herald/Mark Mitchell)

Clem Jones. (Pic: News Corp Australia)

Another feature of the culture of Key, Jones and Mack was that these men all had a big picture vision of the way society could be changed for the better. They wanted to make the world a better place and could see what needed to be done to make it so.

It is also remarkable that none of these leaders were voted out of office. Once the job was done, they retired.

This reveals another flaw in the culture of our current crop of politicians. Too many of them are career politicians who are feather bedding their own futures.

Ted Mack. (Pic: Richard Dobson)

It is now up to the Prime Minister to inform his parliamentary colleagues that the culture of entitlement is over and to lead by example.

The Prime Minister must commit to an independent oversight of parliamentary entitlements and the establishment of a federal anti-corruption body.

There can be no good reason to oppose these basic integrity measures. Accountability must be seen to be done so that public confidence can be restored.

Let the Prime Minister be inspired by Key, Jones and Mack.

David Muir is a partner with HWL Ebsworth Lawyers and a member of the Accountability Round Table

Originally published as Where have all the good politicians gone?