Gomery

[chickenfeet]

Mr Justice Gomery has delivered his recommendations for reforming the Federal Government. He has, correctly, traced the cancer in the body politic to excessive concentration of power in the Prime Minister's Office. However, his recommendations, even in the unlikely event that they are implemented, will do little to cure the problem. The power of the PMO is rooted in the power of the PM and tinkering with the reporting lines of deputy ministers or giving parliamentary committees greater power will not change that. As long as the electoral system functions as a winner-take-all popularity contest between the party leaders, the power of the winner will be near absolute. The PM disposes of so much patronage that he is unchallengeable between elections. One can give as much power as one likes to Select Committees but if they threaten to become effective the PMO will find a way of co-opting them. The only way to reduce the power of the PMO is to reduce the power of the PM. The only way to reduce the power of the PM is to reform the system in such a way that alternative foci of power are created. The only way to do that is to reform the electoral system. Gomery, unfortunately, is, in the last analysis, horribly naive.