Canberra Votes

Caroline Ambrus is a local community advocate for equity and social justice, an activist, publisher and author who believes that Self Government of the ACT is unfinished business. It was imposed in a hurry on a reluctant population twenty years ago. In spite of being Westminster based, a senate was not included. This meant that the legislature could not restrain the ambitions of a majority government, should one ever be elected. Democracy, Territorial style, is not feasible unless the minority parties can co-operate in governance.

Then the unthinkable happened. In 2004 the Labor Party was elected with a majority. Since then the ACT Government has abused its power by: removing checks and balances to suit its priorities; introducing inappropriate legislation; reducing consultation with community groups; conducting frivolous lawsuits; and by persecuting targeted individuals allegedly guilty of minor infractions. Meanwhile, the demoralized Liberal Party opposition has failed to challenge or modify the Government’s tyrannical tendencies. Capital democracy has withered.

In addition, the ACT is not politically autonomous. As the seat of Federal Parliament, the Commonwealth has retained control over those planning matters of national significance. As a result, political tensions and unresolved issues have developed between the two governments. The lines of responsibility between the principal planning authorities, the National Capital Authority (NCA) and the ACT Planning and Land Authority (ACTPLA) have not been clearly drawn. So they are locked in a struggle for control of land. The fall-out is bad planning and wasted resources. Consequently, Canberra, as a place to live and as a seat of Federal Parliament has deteriorated.

In response to her concerns Caroline wrote the book: Capital Tyranny - Governance Gone Wrong (ISBN 978-0-9587979-0-0)

From the irrepressible website - a summary of the Book Chapters:

CHAPTER ONE
STRUCTURE OF ACT GOVERNMENT

Self government in the ACT is unfinished business.
Since the Commonwealth Government decided that its Capital offspring should be self-governed, there has been political tension and unresolved issues between the two governments. This arose out of an incomplete transfer of power and the confusion as to whether the ACT should be politically autonomous. Complicating matters is that the powers given to the Territory were arbitrarily scattered into all sorts of entities and institutions, such as government departments under the direct control of the relevant ACT Minister, and some autonomous, such as the ‘independent’ authorities. The Commonwealth stll controls remnants of governance which continues to exert influence over Territorial affairs. This has created areas of uncertainty which has allowed various interest groups, organisations and quasi-government entities to exert undue and/or defacto influence. In other words, it’s a takeover game…

The ambiguity of power sharing in ACT governance has provided opportunities for takeovers by ACT instrumentalities. The losers are the people of Canberra who are caught in the battle between the titans. The most powerful player in the take-over game is ACTPLA. In practice, it is more powerful than the Legislative Assembly and the judiciary as it controls land in the Territory with the exception of that controlled by National Capital Authority (NCA). Given that both organisations are independent authorities they can slug it out and to hell with the Legislative Assembly and the voters. This means that lessees are potentially vulnerable to whatever they decide to do. This in itself should not be a problem. But it is on record elsewhere and in this book that ACTPLA officers make mistakes, take shortcuts, fail to keep adequate records which results in inconsistent decisions, fail to communicate with clients and the community, conduct witch-hunts, don’t know the law and if they do, don’t care about the law. ACTPLA gets away with it every time as neither the politicians or the courts have the power or the intestinal fortitude to bring the Authority to heel. It is not on record whether the NCA behaves likewise.

CHAPTER TWO
WHERE ARE THE CHECKS AND BALANCES?

The hybrid, confusing system of command and accountability in ACT governance has allowed bureaucrats and politicians to interfere with the system of checks and balances which were designed to protect the community from bureaucratic excesses. Remove these and ACT democracy becomes a capital case of tyranny…

Checks and balances in a democratic system are mostly formalised in the political/legal structure or are a part of the policy framework of government entities. But gaps exist in the system which necessitates administration by bureaucratic discretion. This bypasses the established checks and balances which can lead to practices that suit bureaucratic convenience. Shortcuts readily develop whereby officers breach the laws and the human rights of targeted individuals. Bureaucratic discretion also tempts officers to behave corruptly when tendering out work or making decisions that have an economic impact. Often these decisions and actions are not documented, a problem which the ACT Auditor General highlighed in her 2006 Report…

After falling through one of the many wide cracks in the system, the Ombudsman and the Privacy Commission appear to offer salvation to the aggrieved. Not so! The existence of the watchdog agencies is a sham because they are weak, underfunded and ineffective which is what the Government wants. It all looks good though. The Government can refer complainants to these agencies which is an end of its responsibilities in the matter. A superficial investigation is conducted which exonerates the government because the watchdog does not bite the hand of the master. The agency has been seen to have done its statutory duty and the complainant goes away either shamed, disillusioned, silent or unspeakably angry, suffering a chronic burden of injustice.

CHAPTER THREE
THE AUDITOR GENERAL’S FINDINGS ON ACTPLA

The maladministration of an organisation, according to the definition, is the precursor to its developing tyrannical tendencies. The disturbing reality is that ACTPLA is a maladministered organisation which has created and maintained a totalitarian and tyrannical corporate culture. The organisation also displays those psychopathic traits that are inherent to most organisations which are: unconcern for others’ feelings; dishonesty and lying to one’s own advantage; inability to feel guilt; and, inability to observe the laws and norms of society. Unfortunately these qualities have become features of many organisations. Perhaps co-incidentially, the incidence of psychopathic behaviour at the individual level is on the rise. This personality type underpins the violence and chaos that characterises the social order.

ACTPLA does have a reputation in Canberra for its unlawful/non-compliant activities . Everybody suspects or knows that the Authority is maladministered, but nobody will come out in public and say so. The ACT Auditor General, Tu Pham, audited ACTPLA’s development application and approval process and published her findings in 2006. The Auditor’s Report was referred to the ACT Legislative Assembly’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts which conducted its own enquiry, calling for public submissions. The Reports that emerged from this process were overtly polite, couched in that bureaucratic language that can make the most outrageous behaviour sound normal, well sort of. But the covert message was there waiting for interpretation by cross referencing the submissions, recommendations and findings with the definitions of maladministration and organisational psychology. The symptons identified by the enquiry process points to the conclusion that the patient has a bad dose of maladministration, at least, or at worst, is a full blown case of institutional psychopathy.

CHAPTER FOUR
ACTPLA REWRITES THE LAND ACT

The Land Act, the associated Regulations and various instruments are in a constant state of revamping and rewriting. ACTPLA claims that this is necessary to ‘simplify procedures’, ‘keep up with changing times’ ‘meet community expectations’, etc. But this is not necessarily the reason behind the regime of constant revisions and rewriting. The bureaucrats that instruct the Parliamentary draftsmen usually serve their own interests, not those of their clients. Any government or its agencies will tinker with the legislation to increase its hold on power and to keep the population under control. The current new land act is typical. If it is at all possible, the Authority plans to become more tyrannical than ever and nobody seems to be able to prune its corporate ambitions.

A study of the land and planning legislation in the ACT demonstrates that checks and balances have been progressive eliminated. The community has been written out of the equation and bureaucrats have been given more power and less responsibility. Accountability has been eroded with each encroachment of discretionary power over the rights of ordinary citizens. It is a process that only moves in one direction. Complicating the constant changes in the legislation is that many corporate decision makers are addicted to change because where there is change, there is the illusion of progress. In addition there is the new personnel at all levels of the bureaucracy who change things enough to put their personal stamp on their workplace.

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