As I wrote, Arjay, I don't share your ideological prejudice against public servants.

It will cost money to provide services however they are provided, and people who provide those services are entitled to decent working conditions and a career path, and should not be forced, for example, to work in battery-hen style privatised call centres (that is until the jobs are off-shored to India).

If you want to worship Costa as an inspired visionary reformer, that is your right, but it seems to me that most of your fellow residents of NSW don't share your high regard for him.

The Labor Party should hire me as their advisor.They have implemented my very scenario.

Daggett,NSW ALP have put in the PS all their own clueless cronies over the last 13 yrs.Nathan Rees may be a a new broom but I don't think he will have the power to do too much.It will be a case of "Yes Minister" and the PS will probably scuttle any plans Rees has of reform.

The NSW Libs now will need to smarten up their acts since Rees is far more articulate and assertive than Iemma.

When Rees starts sacking some of our useless PS advisors,then I'll believe he has real reform in mind.

after you get through explaining that parliamentary government doesn't work, why don't you think, and say, "maybe democracy is the answer."

the chains in your mind are stronger by far than the blacksmith's best efforts. ignorance is your weakness, not the pollies. they are there to make a living, not to run the state for your benefit. they are making a living, even while the state goes down the gurgler, because you replace one with another, and none are competent, nor can be competent.

the skill set of a politician and a manager and planner is completely different. the required character is different too: a manager should be honest, and can get and hold his position by being competent as well as honest. a politician can not be honest, any more than a mugger can be kind-hearted. they can't be competent, either. they have no education or experience in planning or management. the public service does that. they are in parliament to make money while inflating their egos. it should not surprise that the result is the mess we see.

your frustrations come from ignorance, perhaps, but more likely from being unwilling to look at political reality and say "jeez, we gotta get off our bums and change things".