Scott, good to see you have escaped the clutches of the QPS. As for "the usually hyperactive Beattie Government (being) on Prozac", that's better than their usual cut-price hallucinogenics. As for the Cole Inquiry, the best the Howard Govt can get away with is "culpable negligence." It's hard to see how the AWB export monopoly can survive - a good thing, too - and the position of the Nat's leader looks to be a bit ropey, but the Lib ministers may squeak through.

The fact that there have been so many Royal Commissions makes it difficult for the Howard Govt to avoid them altogether. In general, they help to lift the level of public debate and governance, with the odd exception like the Stolen Generations' report which failed to uphold recquisite standards of evidence

Argument for " A Common Commission"

There appears to be an increasing movement towards setting up common commission to investigate matters of great public importance like the wheat board crisis so that the crowns management of the government can be properly scrutinized. The bottom line is that the history of improper dealings go back a long way, but it is only being addressed now. Those whom benefited long have taken the money and gone.

'Common' as in by the common people of the state or Australia for the common people to effect on the common people.

Problem with royal commissions is that there is always the 'conflict of interest' factor between the Crown (whom act as an corporation and run all government departments) and the common people interests that exists and may become a major factor in that specific facts and circumstances of each investigation. A legal maxim is that no one can 'judge in their own cause', because the outcome is obvious which is 'We have investigated ourselves and find no evidence of wrong-doing'.

I will always vote for a common commission, if I was given the choice.

Sam

A good analysis by Scott Prasser. There should have been - should still be - a Royal Commission into what Australian national security agencies knew about the sinking of SIEV X, drowning 353 people in international waters being patrolled at the time by the Australian Defence Force, on 19 October 2001. What did AFP, DIMIA, PM&C, Defence, DFAT, really know and when did they know it ? What did John Howard, Philip Ruddock, Alexander Downer, Peter Reith and Chris Ellison know and when did they know it?

If the dead had been Australians, there would certainly have been a Royal Commission that would have got to the bottom of the murky SIEV X history.