Hasbeen, I tend to agree with you. Moreover, I reckon Garrett was set up to fail by the unions.

OTOH, it really has been an appalling case of mismanagement and tends to underscore the reason for Rudd being so obsessive about micromanaging his Ministers.

Hasbeen,

What you say is dead right for about half of the Public Service, IMO. There are plenty of people there that are more interested in not making a mistake than in actually doing anything useful.

Having said that, there is a very diligent and useful side to the PS as well. But strictly only in the context of being an adviser, bookkeeper and data and information collector/repository to and for the Federal Government. They are most certainly not capable of doing audits on electrified roofspaces any more than you or I could design a space shuttle. And when they try to run external programs from within the bureauacracy, it never works because they are just not in the right cultural setting to understand everything that's required to make things work.

As you've correctly said, it's the fault of the Minister for assuming the PS could do this (if, in fact, Garrett has done this at all.) My guess is that Garrett was used as the salesman for the program which is mostly owned by the PM's Office.

But, what's the solution? As events have shown, a big influx of Government money into the market equals a big influx of scammers and shonks. The answer must be to slow down the pace of the rollout and spend time getting the foundations of a more robust system of checks and balances in place. Trouble is, this is generally not sexy, is invisible to the public and therefore won't be rewarded at the election.

Ironically, this scandal may actually help the Government politically if it can be seen to iron out the bugs in the system and still deliver a good outcome for householders. However, it won't be the Government that actually delivers this. It will have to come from the industries themselves. As usual.

RobP

You say this:

"However, it won't be the Government that actually delivers this. It will have to come from the industries themselves. As usual."

The usual response from industries is to demand that the government 'cuts red tape', which is probably how this pathetic situation comes about- a total lack of regulation and licensing and a total reliance on the free market.

It is, after all, 'the industry' that has so poorly served the householders and taxpayers isn't it?

And this lesson has still to be learned further afield, in banking and all the 'funny business' that passes as 'productive trading' that caused, along with greed and stupidity, the GFC.

Instead of learning that where money is concerned, especially 'easy money', there can be no room for total deregulation, we seem to believe that it's all fixed and we can get back to where we were.

Through Rudd's desire to look good, buy votes and be seen to support 'green' issues, he has instead brought havoc to thousands of peoples lives who are burdened with both good and bad 'inch-u-lation' (why do commentators refuse to pronounce the word correctly?)and now I hear that insurance companies are going to refuse to cover houses with it.

Will 'the industry' be fixing that I wonder?

Whther it is green loans, inch-u-lation, or school chaplaincy funding the Commonwealth Government has failed in each instance to devise a working plan that delivers something positive, without harm.

These schemes swiftly morph into scams, all of them, and become ever further from the best intentions that might, just might, have been behind their genesis.

Mostly though, they are mere political window dressing...oops!, almost forgot the NT invasion, what a scam that, 'surprise surprise', turned out to be.

Sadly, the government has caused this failure, and only the government has the money (ours) to fix it, so it will not be 'industry' that resolves it, but, somehow, government.

>>Sadly, the government has caused this failure, and only the government has the money (ours) to fix it, so it will not be 'industry' that resolves it, but, somehow, government.<<

Blue Cross,

Somehow? Howso? I made the argument that Government simply doesn't have the wherewithal to do the work. That's a fundamental truth. Maybe I'm too idealistic, but that only leaves industry - in the truest sense of the word - that can fix the problem now. The Government simply can't micromanage everything going on in the economy.

Your argument is basically saying that industry is corrupt. If so, then what can Government really do? Uncorrupt them? Tell them to do it properly or else? Jail a few of the worst ones and then watch as someone else just takes their place? It looks like a real mess no matter what anyone does or tries to do.

The only way out of this - I think - is joint leadership of the problem at both a government and industry level. And a new paradigm to go with it. Don't ask me what that means, though.

In my view Hasbeens post stands out, it is word perfect and quite true.
Antiseptic thanks, truly ,you know the cat with the mouse is always happy, be still it will be over in a second.
I stood in a group one day and watched Latham, you know the bloke don't you?
He told us, unionists, he had parachuted Garrett into a seat.
Not Rudd, anti.
Unions carry no magic wand, no key to Cabernet, no assurances we will be heard.
Those who are said to have warned Garrett are the same ones who fight for wages rises for those on minimum wages, most nearly all are not union members.
My union all unions are allergic to shonky contractors, we would stamp them out.
if we had the power WE DO NOT, SOMETIMES WE ARE NOT EVEN HEARD.
Back to Hasbeens post it highlights the real world, not the rat bag ideas unions despised by those mentioning them, did not act, hands behind backs feet tied they could only warn.
Garrett in fact any minister is about two weeks behind in advice given while the air wasting public servants look first for ways to conceal Truth.

Belly:"Those who are said to have warned Garrett are the same ones who fight for wages rises for those on minimum wages"

Not as such...

The NECA is the National Electrical Contractor's Association, which is the employer's body, not a Union and the MAster Electrician's Association is likewise not a Umion. The Unions sat on the steering committee and did bugger all.

Now, I don't care whether it was Rudd or Latham who was responsible for Garrett's pre-selection, what's important is firstly that it wasn't a Union and secondly, that you remember the event, because that means it was unusual, to say the least. It also means it wasn't the AWU's (Bill Ludwig's) choice; who did you say stands to gain by Garrett's demise?

The Unions, including the AWU, stink to high heaven on this. Garrett is nothing more than a patsy.