Peter the Believer I think you are right on the amount of corruption in NSW.We only have to look at Govt contracts with favoured contractors getting jobs at outrageous prices.

Headmasters of local public schools cannot pick their own contractors and have to pay contract costs that are 3 and 4 times that of smaller contractors.eg a local primay school not far from me got a price for a concrete slab of $9500.00 they had to accept the preferred Govt contract price of $39,950.00.Now schools are always strapped for cash and an extra $30,000.00 means a lot to them.

Bob Carr bags the concept of a desalination plant.He described it as bottled electricity.He trots off the the Middle East and comes back singing it's praises.What changed Bob's mind? Knowing that he is a failed premier ,he resigns and joins the millionaire's club at McQuarie Bank.Bob Carr has intimate knowledege of the workings of the NSW Public Service.He gets a $500,000.00 consultancy job for just a few hrs a week dedication.Who is pulling who's strings?

I don't think that Barry O'Farrell has the will or balls to to make NSW a better state.Barry voted with NSW Labor to consolidate a bill that allows councils to ; Compulsory acquire land for public projects that is not just that of the immediate necessity to that project,but also that adjacent to the project that can be rezoned and sold by the Council at profit to developers.Barry tried to it fob off saying that his party did not understand the amendment to the bill.Why then is Barry still leader of the NSW Coalition?

Only when there is total collapse will new leaders with principles,morals and notions of fair play rise from the ashes.

Belly is well intentioned,but the task of changing this corrupt system seems too great.We have not reached the bottom yet.

Truly I fear our ability to debate politics is threatened by some weird ideas.
And by one party blindness, the fact some see only the other sides wrongs.
It do does not matter, not even a little, that the opposition leader in NSW is just as bad as the lost bloke leading the lemmings [ALP].
It is far more important to ask why.
Why both party's like a rabbit stunned in the spotlight appear willing to run with the two blind mice they have.
It is said Hockey will switch to state politics, no way!
His task is clear, he must be the one to replace Turnbull , who is about to be defeated as much by his own party as Rudd.
Labor who can lead, no idea once Robo John Robinson, well maybe still I can think of no other.
Both sides wait till the last second to unseat the leadership that screams NSW on both ides is indeed a basket case.
Nothing but harsh action now can save us, in my view little doubt exists things will get worse.
Conservatives will win, greens will control the upper house labor?
Yes economic times are tough but we can both cut costs and not too many jobs.
The contractors may on paper look good but are trouble in sand shoes, never keeping to safety or work out come standards, earn much more than contract price in extras.
Those hidden ties between contractors and salaried officers of government departments are infamous and shame my party.
Ministers unwilling to look at evidence that can not fail to prove wrongs under their noses, who just do not want to know.

belly stop flogging yourself about your party...its the game to think of it as your party...just as its the game to think of any footy team as 'your' team

the party system allways has been run by the public service/lawyers and bankers...who have found that division into us and them is best facilitated by people thinking themselves party loyalists

we should get to the ability to suport individuals..[not parties...to love particular players not teams/brands...we need to create current unity not past union or organisational afffiliations that blindly follow some party line

have you considered running for local govt yourself,chosing to form a new coalition of liberal labour left or liberal/lab green,or lib/lab conservative's or lib/lab socialists...

my poiint being that left wings/right wings of both parties have more in common with each other..than the parties that are both controlled by the elite

there are many people rebelling against the parties..[that are slowly evolving into one man/one woman dictatorships...we need labour friendly representation more than ever...as both parties take turns to screw the workers...

there must be a way to reform the party system's...because the current divisions are controlled and contrived by the same age old elite mens clubs running both parties

Belly
I sympathise. QLD does not look to be doing any better with the rush to privatise public assets. The corruption in Wollongong, backhander payments to governments from property developers - the list goes on.

Despite the ALP being borne of the union movement I do think unions should not be affiliated with any one party. Unions cannot hope to do their job of protecting workers while they are so closely wedded to the ALP. The business unions like the BCA lobby to both sides of government so I cannot see why the workers' unions cannot do the same.

The ALP moved more to the Right of politics for many reasons but its biggest failure was to expect the most vulnerable to bear the biggest burden of the financial crisis and failure to address the minimum wage.

Given the electoral system we have, it would be useful to have a few more independents and parties like the Australian Democrats (RIP) to ensure that the most vulnerable are protected and that party interests don't outweigh the interests of the people they represent. Thank goodness for the Greens and Senator Xenophon.

While from a different side of politics you even have to admire ol' Barnaby Joyce from time to time for calling a spade a spade even if occasionally it turns out to be a fork.

How can we as ordinary people make a difference? How can we change the current political landscape other than through our vote?

I watched Landline today and there was a great story about BlazeAid - a group of Victorians who have assisted bushfire victims to rebuild fences. One person when interviewed stated that when it comes down to it we cannot always depend on governments and sometimes the best way to get things done is via the community, friends, neighbours and volunteers. When governments drag their feet this is vital and I think a good thing to keep a sense of humanity about us.

New South Wales is a basket case because the Liberals abolished jury trials in New South Wales in 1970. Without accountability, corruption flourishes and will continue to do so. When Paul Keating’s government was defeated in 1996, we were doomed to twelve years of non stop corruption. If Kevin Christian Rudd, lives up to expectation and fixes the Federal Court of Australia and High Court, corruption will swiftly stop, the State will cease being broke, and Keating’s National Competition policy start to deliver benefits.

Lawyers in the Parliament of the Commonwealth are currently blocking reform of State Labor Governments, which would immediately occur if the Federal Court of Australia and State Supreme Court started to compete. Instead they are both cosy havens for corrupt officials, who can expect their lawyer mates to honor deals done on their behalf by lawyers. The Land and Environment Court is simply another corrupt Court, unconstitutional and dysfunctional. We have to get the capital C people out of Courts, and put little j judges in them to stop corruption.

Because there are no juries, dollars flow from the state to the ruling party, through dishonest tendering. A dissatisfied tenderer has no remedy. John Wilson is currently in jail, because this is what he wants. All he wants is jury trial, but where is the High Court. As usual out to lunch. The High Court is the highest court in New South Wales and every State. While it is a luncheon club, the Liberals could win the next State election. It may be that is what they want.

Belly if you can persuade your Labor mate Nathan Rees, to accept that Liberal Changes to the Supreme Court are the cause of all this corruption, and roll us back to 1969, as the High Court said we must in 1996, we will not have to put up with Liberal mismanagement after the next election.

He has the ball at his feet, and should kick ass. Lawyers are no friends of the Labor Party even when they join it to take advantage of workers support

Pelican I found I agree with most of your post, very much so in relation to unions not being tied to Labour.
A very left union is moving to wards the greens, and this time many even in my party may do the same.
Clearly such a move would be helpful, labor can not forever take the union movement, and we can not take labor, as our only choice.
PTB you worry me, I read your posts, but do you read mine?
How did you come to see Rees as my mate?
After ALP country conference I thought he was ok, for about ten minutes.
I have as little regard for him as I do Abbott, Pyne, Turnbull, Wilson Tucky and a host of others.
Fact is he is far more likely to harm the ALP than all of those.
Being too loyal to the ALP will kill unions, workers want Rudd, me too but NSW? A BASKET CASE.