jo172 wrote:If we're to absolve Cabinet Ministers of any and all ministerial responsibility for their departments we might as well do away with responsible government and representative democracy.
To an extent some of the above posts reek of Trumpist "deep state" paranoia.
A good Minister is on top of their Department or alternatively fails to control it and resigns. Throwing your hands up and saying I was responsible for nothing in abhorrent.
It's worth comparing and contrasting Barry O'Farrell in NSW and his views on ministerial responsibility relative to the Rann/Weatherill governments.
If nothing was done or there was a cover up, then put their heads on a spike.
But that hasn't happened. The State Government have actually been admirably ruthless with the administration of those institutions. They've sacked people and managed others out the door.
To be clear, it's not the role of the State Government to run those institutions, it's their role to direct them, fund them and when required act to get them back on track.
It's logistically, pragmatically and feasibly impossible to expect a Minister in charge of thousands and thousands of people and billions of dollars to ensure good governance 100% of the time. They put the people in those institutions to do that.
Your logic would actually see a reduction in governance quality, as no one would want to step up for fear of getting decapitated thanks to the incompetence of others, so you'd get a smaller marketplace to select talent from.