Talking about so called "cheating?"

Question Time used to be a democratic safeguard,
now its a farce. Questions on notice are defensively
answered by public servants. Questions without notice
receive irrelevant, rambling and propagandist replies.
However, both the Government and the Opposition also
use up the time with Dorothy Dixers where
sycophantic and ambitious backbenchers ask questions
for which the Minister has a well prepared answer
boasting about their own and their government's brilliance.
Cheating indeed. Everyone does it.

Senator Hanson-Young was no doubt a good bank teller; she just seems to have risen above her natural level of ability.

Belly I suspect that if the ombudsmen was caught leaking the faked outrage would be even greater. I wonder if he could have faced criminal sanction if caught doing so.

The real crime here is the manipulation of the system the major parties use to avoid being accountable for their actions and to stop those employed by the taxpayer from speaking off message publicly.

I can't see any way that either of those involved in this incident have tried to gain personal benefit from their actions or attempted to hide anything except their collusion.

R0bert

Lexi, with respect question time has always been as it is.
In almost every way, the word Dorothy Dixer,used to describe an opportunity to talk the government up is older than me.
Abbott's behavior is the only thing different.
Cheating? hardly but if you wish it will change nothing .
RObert,come, this is not about every wrong every side does us.
It is about,tell me I am wrong, A person filling a roll I THINK the ALP introduced.
The very name, inferred separate powers to over see Government actions INDEPENDENTLY .
Without fear or favor.
Greens came in to existence to be different, they are held by their followers to be different, more accountable.
Now leaks can be untraceable, he could have leaked with safety.
But he sat and rehearsed questions he gave one party!
I thank him, for going,for showing us the Greens pay only lip service to their promises.
Here, now,we see why in no more than three federal elections,the dreams that are the greens will die.
Australians do not trust them.
They acted here poorly,and defending them by throwing mud at other party's for unrelated actions is telling.
I am convinced it proves point, it is known they acted poorly.

R0bert, the problem as I see it is that the Ombudsman stepped outside the bounds of probity when he enlisted a partisan senator as a "collaborator".

The role of the Ombudsman is to ensure that the process of public administration is done properly, that the procedures are followed and that the procedures are fair and reasonable.

By stepping outside the procedural bounds of his own role, Asher left himself no option but to tender his resignation, since he undermined the position's claim to superior ethical judgement, exercised without fear or favour..

It seems to me that there are few Parliamentarians who would not understand that this is an important role and that undermining it in the way Asher and Hanson-Young did is not in the interests of democracy.

It shouldn't be a surprise that the party which most embodies the philosophy of "the end justifying the means" would be the one to cause this problem, nor that their least competent and most publicity-hungry member (except Sideshow Bob" would be the individual singles out.

Nor is it surprising that she'd not have the ethical backbone to stand by Asher, who at least had the decency to do the right thing.

Roll on the next election - send the fairies back to the bottom of the garden.

Sometime after the Greens came in to being.
After I had got past my dislike for the unwashed nature of SOME of the truly lost who supported them.
I considered them a force for good.
Come, be honest, many of us did, briefly for some, for me it lasted ten years.
Poor C J Morgan, a poster I miss and respect still, once joined arm in verbal arm,as I told him of handing out Greens HTV how to votes with Labors.
We clashed after that.
My thought, that they better represented conservation, may take up the dead and buried Democrats Keep the B,s honest mission?
No I got it wrong, I have seen the most radical, most truly radical climb on their back.
And I see, every day, this Hansen Young and others, show they actually think they are our conscience!
And using such as this, sitting with the very person who was tasked with ensuing HONESTY and crafting questions to Deceive a parliamentary inquiry.
Look, at this thread, find me a green just one.
Who came here to say it was wrong.
Our country's politics is not as bad as commented on by every one.
But remember ,do not look for honesty in this group.