Politicians don't run the Country. There are faceless people behind them & Politicians are only voices for them. That's why Credlin was put in to control Abbott. Her Husband runs the Liberal Party & they wanted to control his run away mouth. That's how Corruption works fir both major Partys.

o sung wu,

I forgot to mention "Justice" Lionel Murphy and the Morgan Ryan affair.
Murphy "died" just before he was about to be charged under sec. 72.
Very convenient especially in the light of what would have come out in court.
Then there was Franca Arena and the "Outings" affair
I believe she is still locked up in a 'secure' establishment.
The pedophile networks are a classic example of judicial and government corruption.
Nothing changes old mate.

Hi there IS MISE...

What is there to say, dodgy accounting, kickbacks, 'scratch my back 'n I'll scratch yours' sort of thing? Fuel has always been an attractive commodity in which to negotiate deals both straight and bent? Your illustration apropos, rebuilding the 25lb's is more like 'creative' employment practices to me? However I'm sure your average taxpayer wouldn't necessarily agree? Thanks mate for two excellent illustrations.

Hi there COSSOMBY...

Indeed, ain't it true, everyone of us has the potential to be corrupted. I guess it's how we handle the temptation, that is a fair indication as to the depth and fidelity of our character. Of course not everyone is in a position that renders them to be a target for corrupt activity, though many are I guess, and that's the problem. Thanks for your thoughts too COSSOMBY.

Hi there TTBN...

I'm sorry perhaps I didn't quite understand when you say, I had my tongue in my cheek when I mentioned corruption in the judiciary? For clarity, I was very serious my friend. However, I'm not a fool, and I value the simplicity of my retirement.

What I will share with you though, and I've mentioned it before on this very Forum. Police often 'know' something 100%, however they simply can't 'prove' it, in a Court of Law. And you're right, the higher and more powerful an individual may be, the greater potential there is for corrupt behaviour, hence our politicians. Thank you for your thoughts too TTBN.

o sung wu,

To resist corruption is often very hard and takes some serious soul searching.
I was in Government employ for a number of years and when I announced that I'd be leaving I was offered a higher appointment as an inducement to stay.
However that level was also the level where serious corruption had its roots (serious as in jail time not just dismissal), it was also the level of the 'fall guys', so I weighed up the options, frightened myself, and left; private industry was safer, at least at my entry level.

Hi there JAYB...

From the outset I'm not and never have, been a member of the QLD police force. Initially after briefly reading your extended description of your various encounters with members of Qld. police, specifically detectives, and your assertions of their corruption. I was about to query, why it was you failed to give these corrupt bastards up !

That was until I re-read your version again, and realised you were probably in a fairly tenuous position, had you lagged 'em. Presumably you didn't have the additional protections of a Royal Commission (prior Fitzgerald)? Anyway I did a bit over 32 years in the job, and was a detective sergeant upon retirement. Therefore I get pretty 'jacked up' when I hear people make sweeping statements about police corruption, without a modicum of corroboration of any fact(s).

Naturally, I can't offer you any scholarly insight or even a educated comment apropos your precise experience. Sure corruption does occur in law-enforcement as it does in most other agencies where a statutory power is conferred. And yes, there have been and still are corrupt detectives, even in NSW my former force.

Conversely, there are many many more thoroughly good, ramrod straight 'D's who daily, try hard to do a very difficult and equally dangerous job, than these few corrupt maggots who call themselves detectives, who still manage to operate among the swill and effluence of the City's sewers. Believe me JAYB, any corrupt 'D' found in my old squad in the CIB, probably would find it difficult to breathe again after he sucked the edge of a gutter! After all corruption endangers the lives of all police whilst doing their duty.

And in closing to borrow your vernacular JAYB '...so are some of the police corrupt?...' yes a few are. But there are many many more who are absolutely straight, honorable and decent blokes. You betcha, and that'll never change. Albeit some are a bit rough around the edges, but you'd never want 'em any other way when dealing with some of these violent marauding gangs, would you?

o sung wu,

Your remarks that some Ds can be rough around the edges (on occasion) reminder me of a mate of mine, who years ago was on the edge of following in his family's devotion to a life of petty crime.

He told me that when he was about 16 he was giving the coppers a bit of lip and was being chased but he was elusive and knew Redfern well, he was well away when he ran around a corner and right into the arms of 'Bumper' Farrell, he trod on the mate's toes thus trapping him for a private reading of the 'riot act' all the while punctuating his remarks with a jab of his finger to the mate's chest.

Next morning as he surveyed the bruises on his chest, the mate decided that he should mend his ways 'cause as he said "If he could do that to me with his finger, I hate to think what it'd be like if he was fair dinkum".

He said that it wasn't a moral reason for being a straight citizen but until he grew wiser it served the purpose.