People are disillusioned by allegations of corrupt behaviour in the right wing of NSW Labor. While not all such allegations result in criminal prosecutions, their frequency damages Labor's credibility as a party dedicated to public service. Widespread cynicism makes it difficult for the party leadership to sound sincere during election campaigns. It also undermines public confidence in the ideals of democratic government and social cohesion.
Political trust is fragile and can be destroyed in many ways. Plundering state finances for private gain is an obvious one, but general mendacity works just as well.
The O'Farrell Government is repeating the mistakes of its Coalition predecessor by demonstrating ideologically driven attitudes to public assets. Critics have pointed to its actions regarding the public service, education and coal seam gas mining. But one decision stands out as being arrogant and disrespectful of the community.
In its desperation to pass legislation in an entirely unrelated area, the Government courted the votes of Shooters and Fishers Party members of the upper house by promising to allow recreational shooting in National Parks.
Minority groups have every right to press governments for policy changes. Governments need to balance such pressures against countervailing demands by other groups, general community welfare and their own ethics. But even the most cynical observers must have been appalled by the paradoxical nature of this decision. The ideals implicit in reserving areas as national parks are incompatible with recreational shooting.
What is perhaps most appalling is not so much that a government might make such a blatantly political decision, but that its spokespersons attempt to justify in terms of feral pest control. It would have been far better had spokespersons advised the people of NSW to get over it, rather than thumbing their noses at valid concerns and legitimate criticisms by citing half-truths about research and dubious guarantees of supervision.
The Government supposedly had research to hand into feral animal populations. Its reluctance to release this research before taking its decision suggests either that there was no research that would bear scientific scrutiny; that the research did not suggest that 'recreational' shooting was the answer; or that the research did not support the Government's decision about where this action is most needed.
The Government has couched its assurances