The Howard goverment has refined the use of lies and miss information to stay in power.
However the day will come when the ALP will govern and much work will be neeeded to restore this countrys good name in world trade.
While waiting for a new goverment [it may take longer than we think] it has to be asked why do some not care about the lies?

Belly,
"why do some not care about the lies?" I may have an answer for you, the Australian electorate is a basicly conservative one. Some would rather watch the simpsons, than the news, so would not even be aware of the lies. We in this place whatever our views are interested in the events of the day, many sadly are not.

Life is so busy these days for most families, there is no time to think, by the time the children have been collected from school, been taken for the mad dash home to change for sport, music lessons etc, a meal cooked it is 7:30pm, and both parent and child are ready for bed. The events of the day run a long second place to sleep, as it must all be done again tomorrow.

That said, I believe government officials, and indeed government itself should be accountable, whatever flavour it happens to be, and would think many good people still exist who could chair a commission. Tony Fitzgerald Q.C. who chaired the Queensland Police Corruption Commission 15 years ago, did a brilliant job.

For the Howard Government, the AWB scandal will be a test, as it has the potential to be explosive at the next election, instead of the situations that have gone before, such as children overboard, discovered after the election was run and won, interesting times ahead...

On the Commonwealth Ombudsman Website they give you a link to the Ombudsman Act 1976, on the State Ombudsman website its 1974.

I wrote to the Office of the Ombudsman and Police Integrity Commission asking them to review a decision that the State Ombudsman had made to not provide me with the reasons for his decisions not to investigate serious allegations against the Department of Education that I brought up in a review request and for which I had an alarming amount of evidence to support and in relation to which I alleged a cover up.

The Response from the Office of the Ombudsman and Police Integrity Commission referred me to the Ombudsman Act (no date was specified) Section 31(B) 2 and it was set out that this section stated:

Under Section 31B(2) of the Ombudsman Act, the Committee is prohibited from:

1. Investigating a matter relating to particular conduct:
2. reconsidering a decision to investigate, not to investigate or to discontinue investigation of a particular complaint; or
3. reconsidering the findings, recommendations, determinations or other decisions of the Ombudsman, or of any other person, in relation to a particular investigation or complaint.

When I rang the Office and enquired as to what “particular conduct” referred to as it was not defined in the Act I was advised that it was the conduct that I was referring to which is moral misconduct, corruption and a conspiracy to cover up.

Then, in a further response to me, the Office of the Ombudsman referred to the Ombudsman’s Act 1976. Now the Ombudsman’s Act 1976 does not seem to have a Section 31B(2) that I can see. Section 31B(2) appears only to be part of the Ombudsman’s Act 1974. So I can’t help but wonder. Can they just use whatever Act suits their needs at the time?

All political parties are the same and all Investigatory bodies work together and use the same laws and processes. People in positions of power are protected by Law from being investigated for moral misconduct.

Nobody should be above the Law.

There is but one solution, when it comes to polling day, don't vote for a party, that way we may actually get real people involved, rather than brain dead lawyers, programmed robotic beaurucrats and academics. After all, the current political parties are equals, in corruption, lies and deceit.

An independent has more to lose by lying to the voters, than one from a political party that buys it votes with fear, lies and corporate media stand over tactics, then does the opposite.

If we don't get rid of these despots, our entire system will melt down and we'll suffer anarchism, allowing others the opportunity to over run us. I am sure that there are those just waiting until our country drops its bundle, even the US would jump at the chance to have more control over us than it has now.

Just like changing climate, no one has the guts to say no. Like little lemming's, you all just go and vote for the same morons over and over, talk about the blind leading the stupid., or is it the stupid leading the blind. No reflection meant to those visually impaired.

A watchdog, just another politically appointed idiotic entity, getting heaps of money to cover up and gloss over the criminal activities of political parties

While we on about "honest?" government. In the liberal leader [the australian] this morning the alleged bribery by our wheat sellers had pride of place and ONCE AGAIN out came howard and his cronies with the same tired mantra "We no nossing!" Of course, and we ALL believe you honest? john!
But there's another story about the howard government GIVING! $2.4 million to one of the liberal parties largest donors - gunns of Gunnmania err that should be Tasmania. That's $2.4 million of our tax dollars, money that could have gone to hospitals, schools or whatever.
But one thing with the honest decent liberal government they do reward their backers with our money. Of course labour look after their undemocratic union mates again, of course, with OUR money. numbat

Just how are things going from bad to worse for John Howard?
The Cole Inquiry is not touching a fly in the sky because the Labor Opposition need a better leader than Kim Beazley.
John Howard will get through it easily because the Beazley engine needs more firepower.