Local elections highlight why more scrutiny is needed of politicians

Most of Australia’s leaders were held in low regard before the COVID-19 crisis, and acts like using taxpayer dollars to spruik candidates is exactly why, writes Jenna Cairney.

IT IS a very sad reflection on the state of the Australian body politic that our story on page 11 is unlikely to lead to any revolutionary change in our system of governance.

Tasmanian Greens leader Cassy O’Connor was quite right to raise concerns about the major parties using taxpayer-funded resources to effectively promote their candidates in the upcoming Huon and Rosevears Legislative Council elections.

Greens leader Cassy O'Connor has accused the major parties of misusing public funds. Picture: Zak Simmonds

Across Australia the number of people employed on the public purse to make our elected leaders look good has increased dramatically over the past three decades.

Where once journalists could rely on getting information directly from the relevant decision-maker, today questions are more likely to be emailed across and the response is frequently so heavily spun it is essentially incomprehensible.

Before the current coronavirus, which has seen a number of political leaders across the country rise to an extraordinary challenge, the general public’s opinion of politicians was low. That was ironic because we’ve never spent more money of making them look good.

Politicians were largely held in low regard prior to the COVID-19 crisis, where some truly rose to the challenge, writes the Mercury editor Jenna Cairney. Picture: Zak Simmonds

The truth is the reason Australians held politicians in such low regard is the widely held belief they will do and say anything to get elected.

Conduct such as that detailed in our report today falls into precisely this category.

If a party wishes to promote its candidates then it has a well-oiled machine in place which is aimed at first raising donations and then using that money to purchase advertising – already a murky system in Tasmania given the lack of transparency around the registration of donations.

It should not be the case that taxpayer-funded personnel are asked to use taxpayer-funded equipment and offices to do the work which should fall to party officials and volunteers.

Meanwhile, it is pleasing to see additional steps being taken towards reopening Australia for domestic travel.

The border issue continues to be a divisive one.

Premier Peter Gutwein has been widely applauded for his no-nonsense approach to coronavirus restrictions and now that Tasmania has eliminated the virus, understandably there are concerns opening up interstate travel could lead to further outbreaks on the island.

Tasmania’s tough restrictions undoubtedly saved lives but the next steps are equally as important.

South Australia reopening its borders – to Tasmania, the Northern Territory and Western Australia – is a positive step.

Of course, because our border remains closed while a person can travel into South Australia, from Tasmania, unrestricted they will have to quarantine for two weeks upon return.

Last week Mr Gutwein said he would provide a date for our border measures in early July yet yesterday he said he would move that date forward to June 26. So by next week, we should know when our state will be open again – a date likely to be sometime late July if everything goes to plan.

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These decisions are not easy ones to make.

But Mr Gutwein continues to impress Tasmanians. He provides strong leadership but is absolutely adaptable in this ever-evolving saga.