Donaldson, Helen (SEN)
From:	Keele, Peter (SEN)
Sent:	Wednesday, 24 January 2001 9:00 AM
To:	Donaldson, Helen (SEN)
Subject:	FW: Charter of Political Honesty Bill 2000

-----Original Message-----
From: pazza@1earth.net [mailto:pazza@1earth.net] 
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2001 4:18 PM
To: seniorclerk.committees.sen@aph.gov.au
Subject: Charter of Political Honesty Bill 2000

This email is a
Submission to the Senate Committee Enquiry
relating to the 
Charter of Political Honesty Bill 2000
No.    , 2000
Senator Andrew Murray

This submission is from
Reginald Parry Jones
57 Burnett Avenue
Gerringong NSW 2534
  Tel: 02 4234 2935
  Fax: 02 4234 2936
Email: pazza@1earth.net

References:
In this submission I shall refer to
(a) Charter of Political Honesty Bill 2000
    No.   , 2000
    (Senator Andrew Murray)
    A Bill for an Act to provide a Charter of
    Political Honesty and for related purposes
    which I shall refer to as the "CPH Bill"
(b) The Second Reading Speech in support of the Bill
    by Senator Andrew Murray
    which I shall refer to as "Senator Murray's speech"

Nature of the Submission:
The nature of this submission is to
(a) support Senator Murray's arguments regarding the CPH Bill and hence
(b) agree with Senator Murray's perceived need for the CPH Bill
(c) add some personal observations regarding the need for a CPH Bill
(d) add some personal opinions regarding the probity of politicians

The Submission
Let me begin by quoting the first three sentences of Senator Murray's speech
"Public comment and debate consistently reveals a striking level of distrust
 of Australian politicians. It is a grave matter indeed when people lose faith
 in their leaders and representatives. When politicians are widely viewed as 
 dishonest and untrustworthy, the perceived legitimacy of the entire political
 system is compromised."
Unfortunately, no, tragically, that state of affairs is perfectly true. And if
an example is needed to support that contention, let me relate a brief story.

Only a few weeks ago I went to a Gentlemen's Luncheon which was attended by
several businessmen, both active and retired, two yachtsmen, an artist/sculptor,
two farmers, a science teacher and other educated men. The occasion was 
convivial and soon the conversation got around to politics. One businessman 
expressed the view that the Prime Minister was doing an excellent job and 
deserved our approbation. Then, pointing to the science teacher he said, 
"But I suppose you don't agree."
The teacher replied, "I am very worried that the leader of our nation is a man
who deals in core and non-core promises; that is, promises he intends keeping
and others he intends breaking. The trouble is, you don't know which is which."
At this there was an outbreak of laughter around the table whence one of the 
businessmen said, "Oh, c'mon. How can you be so naive. He's a politician."

This brought me up with a jolt. No, not the idea of core and non-core promises
and certainly not the naivity of the science teacher. Rather it was the general
acceptance of the Prime Minister's behaviour. In other words, you should 
structure your life in anticipation of that standard of probity from our 
political leaders. And, I think most Australians have done so.

The sad fact is most Australians now regard all political pronouncements
with healthy scepticism at best and dowright derision at worst. That is,
the full range of negative attitudes, from disbelief to utter scorn, are
built into the public psyche. And if you wonder why, let us examine but
a few recent examples of the behaviour of our Federal Leaders.

From the Prime Minister, The Rt. Hon. John Winston Howard, we have
(a) the famous "never ever" statement regarding a GST
(b) the elusive distinction between "core and non-core promises"
(c) the pre-GST promise regarding the price of petrol
(d) the pre-GST promise regarding the lump sum to retirees
all of which were clouded in so much obfuscation that the truth got lost

From the Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition, The Hon Kim Beazley" we have
recent behaviour that would put Judas Iscariot to shame
Late last year Dr Kemp introduced The School Funding Act which was duly
passed by the Lower House and sent to the Senate. In the Senate the Labor
Opposition and the Democrats made umpteen changes and sent it back to the 
Lower House. The Lower House ignored these changes and bounced it back to
the Senate where the Australian Labor Party, in spite of their fundamental
opposition to so many aspects of the bill, split from the Democrats, caved
in and passed it by voting with the Govt. That is, in spite of their 
protestations, their amendments and their fundamental political principle,
the Australian Labor Party chose the path of dubious expediency.

No, neither of the major parties can claim the moral high ground. When 
there is a conflict between ethical standards and political expediency
the latter wins every time. And, can we expect a change? Is there a chance
Senator Murray's Bill ever getting up and putting some pricipled behaviour
back into our Federal politicians? I don't think so and the seeds of our
expectations are crushed in Senator Murray's speech and, I quote -
"Accountability proposals and the responses to them have a unique ability
 to demonstrate the real values of politicians and political parties. All
 non-government parties and politicians unite in criticising ministerial
 dishonesty or govermental impropriety. But often the loudest voices of
 criticism are the quietist of all when it comes to finding real and lasting
 solutions. This is particularly so when the political party concerned sees
 itself as an executive-in-waiting."

Senator Murray's CPH Bill, with its Parliamentary Joint Committee and its
Commissioner for Parliamentary Ethics, is a valiant and worthy attempt to
elevate the ethical standards of our Federal Parliamentarians and I commend
it to all our Federal representatives. Who knows, a touch of principle might
lead to a miracle

Parry Jones
Gerringong

  

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