From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 24 May

The less than flattering report from the Victorian Ombudsman, Deborah Glass, in which she is highly critical of detailed behaviour within the Ballarat City Council, should come as no real surprise.

THE Ombudsman’s criticism was specifically directed at the council chief executive, Justine Linley; and director of infrastructure and environment, Terry Demeo.

Suffice to say, I shall leave the investigative reporting to those better qualified, but for the record: City of Ballarat is one of Victoria’s largest regional city councils. It provides local services to around 105,000 people, including maternal and child health services, home care and support for elderly residents, garbage and recycling, and parks and recreation facilities. In 2017-18, the Council reported a turnover of $225.95 million, assets of $1.69 billion and 940 employees.

Australia is, unquestionably, one of the most over-governed countries in the democratic world. We have one too many layers of government. It has been argued, on many occasions, councils should be abandoned. The state government should be responsible for running the affairs of the state, and country should be governed from Canberra.  While it is fraught with complications, it would make good economic sense.

Councils were implemented in another time and place in the history of the nation. Communities were isolated through distance. Communications and transport were much slower. Ballarat really was ‘in the country’. Local councils were imperative for the running of regional cities. The mayor and the councillors were the ‘big fish’ in a little pond, and they fiercely guarded their sinecure. Any interlopers and Johnnys-come-lately were dealt with swiftly and sternly. Today Ballarat is a regional satellite city of Melbourne, and rest of the world is but a Skype away.

Also, it was a time when Australian society was, for better or worse, more clearly delineated. There was a working class and an upper class, and everyone knew their place. That is not to suggest it was acceptable but it was the prevailing ethos, which for many years served us well. The working class did not aspire to move in spheres deemed out of their league. For the most part, the upper class maintained a societal benevolence steeped in a born-to-rule mentality. Often sons followed in the family wake for generations. It was the accepted form.

As a result of the two world wars, the structure was transformed, irrevocably. In Australia, unlike England, the class distinction became less obvious. One could achieve on merit and education. The child of the cobbler was offered the same opportunities as that of the doctor.

The Ombudsman’s report is a gauge of a more serious malaise; an asphyxiating cancer which saturates huge swathes and threatens to destroy our culture. The late British Prime Minster, Margaret Thatcher, was ridiculed when, infamously, she claimed there was no such thing as a society, just individuals and their families. Today, more than ever before in our financial history, we live in a society where success is measured by an accumulation of wealth. The sharper your elbows the greater your chances of success. Self-aggrandisement is endemic; workplace power has become a heady aphrodisiac; titles are crucial to support the sham; individual egos are more important than the task. Technology has made it possible for those in power to operate in a manufactured and protective bubble of hubris.

With great respect, I would disagree vehemently with the Ombudsman’s statement, “the findings about the chief executive are at the lower end of the spectrum of bad behaviour.” Arguably, there are no degrees of bad behaviour; no room for shades of grey. Either it is acceptable, or not. The detail of wrong doing contained in the report is cause for the most serious reflection. It betrays those people whose trust they held; it diminishes the standing of a vital institution, and, most crucially, it chips away at the very foundations of our democracy, which, at best, are fragile.

Justifications notwithstanding, any breaches of established protocols deserve the full weight of public opprobrium, and the law.

Roland can be heard on RADIO 3BA, every Monday morning, 10.45, and contacted via [email protected].