Darron CharlesworthCorporate greed stealing from the public
June 14th 2010 22:34
Category: No Category
The accounting and accountability practices exposed by the extravagant wastage of the BER (Building the Education Revolution) raise a more serious question: is this how the Government conducts all its business?
It is not uncommon for government to announce cost blow-outs but is a distinct difference between a blow-out in material cost or deliberate exploitation by business and industry. It is not just the question of government failing to keep tight reign on projects and expenses. There is also a serious question about the integrity of business and their practices.
In the first instance government owes it to the public to make sure that their money is well spent. If the wastage and unfounded costs attributed to the BER are any indication of how the Government conducts itself where else is it exposed?
Imagine if every project the Government runs involved the wastage and blow-outs the BER has encountered? Maybe they already do. If that is the case then the public is funding significant private sector profiteering and unfounded greed.
Rorts of government funds are not new. It beggars belief however that government has not found a way to alleviate its impact. With all the processes supposedly in place how is business able to include huge unnecessary cost in tendered projects? If the millions in fees and site management costs were replicated across all government sectors then billions of dollars are tossed away due to mismanagement and a failure to keep proper accounts.
Demands on the tax dollar are constantly increasing. This means that the Government must ensure that every cent is properly spent and accounted for. The public cannot afford to bankroll corporate lunches – so to speak. Contracts need to be evaluated better and rorts need to be weeded out.
Second to this is the role played by business. I realise it is naïve of me to expect business to behave ethically but they should. When they take a slice from the government they are actually taking it from us, the people. Why? Are corporations and other business owners so intent on increasing their wealth and profits that they are infelicitously reaping public money for their own selfish ends? Unfortunately this appears to be the case.
The Government owes it to the public to be more prudent with its spending and business owes it to the public to only take reasonable expenses for their contribution. Sadly this is unlikely to happen in the near future this should however be the goal: more accountability, less profiteering, more integrity, and increased honesty in activities from both business and government.
The public purse is not a corporate welfare fund to be raided at will. Every cent that goes to support corporate greed and private profiteering is one less to address health care, education, housing, poverty and numerous other social issues desperately in need of funding. The time has come to stop this greed and start thinking beyond the bottom line.
It is not uncommon for government to announce cost blow-outs but is a distinct difference between a blow-out in material cost or deliberate exploitation by business and industry. It is not just the question of government failing to keep tight reign on projects and expenses. There is also a serious question about the integrity of business and their practices.
In the first instance government owes it to the public to make sure that their money is well spent. If the wastage and unfounded costs attributed to the BER are any indication of how the Government conducts itself where else is it exposed?
Rorts of government funds are not new. It beggars belief however that government has not found a way to alleviate its impact. With all the processes supposedly in place how is business able to include huge unnecessary cost in tendered projects? If the millions in fees and site management costs were replicated across all government sectors then billions of dollars are tossed away due to mismanagement and a failure to keep proper accounts.
Demands on the tax dollar are constantly increasing. This means that the Government must ensure that every cent is properly spent and accounted for. The public cannot afford to bankroll corporate lunches – so to speak. Contracts need to be evaluated better and rorts need to be weeded out.
The Government owes it to the public to be more prudent with its spending and business owes it to the public to only take reasonable expenses for their contribution. Sadly this is unlikely to happen in the near future this should however be the goal: more accountability, less profiteering, more integrity, and increased honesty in activities from both business and government.
The public purse is not a corporate welfare fund to be raided at will. Every cent that goes to support corporate greed and private profiteering is one less to address health care, education, housing, poverty and numerous other social issues desperately in need of funding. The time has come to stop this greed and start thinking beyond the bottom line.
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