PROMISES PROMISES-A DIET FOR FOOLS
A RUDDERLESS GOVERNMENT IN CRISIS OVER THE FIGHT AGAINST CRIME
As a general election looms, political parties and candidates trot out tired promises and self-aggrandizing rhetoric, fixating on handouts and economic performance. The incumbent government boasts of delivering prosperity against impossible odds, while the opposition vehemently disagrees. Yet, neither side dares to address the elephant in the room: the collapse of law and order. This deafening silence stems from a harsh truth—the failures point to an incompetent judicial branch, propped up by a complicit legal profession.
Judicial incompetence hides behind the sacred cows of independence and the separation of powers, while the corruption within an exorbitantly priced yet essential legal profession is shielded by its self-governing status. No one questions their excesses—overcharging, bullying from the bench, and preying on vulnerable clients, stripping their estates, properties, and assets. The so-called watchdogs, packed with members of the self-regulated Bar and Solicitors’ professions, are anything but independent, serving as a fortress against any critique.
The rot, as they say, starts at the head. Crime isn’t just the unchecked rise of bikie and ethnic gangs; their unabated growth is a glaring symptom of a government either unwilling to act, entangled through party affiliations, or too distracted by identity politics to prioritize law enforcement. Instead, crime is conveniently repackaged into sensationalized, gender-skewed labels like “domestic violence” or “elder abuse,” while the sprawling scourge of organized crime—dubbed the Sotto Governo or under government by some communities for its ties to the legal profession and even the judiciary in at least two states—is ignored.
Stand over thugs in the multi-billion-dollar drug trade, where Australia outpaces every other OECD nation, operate with impunity. An under-resourced police force, ill-equipped and overstretched, often arrives too late to stem the tide. Drive-by shootings, execution-style murders, and brutal bashings have become so routine they barely register a ripple in public consciousness. Yet, neither political party has made crime, law and order, or judicial reform a centerpiece of their agenda. Instead, they train their promises—and their frustrations—on the most vulnerable: the nation’s youth, whose drift into crime is not the root of this malaise, but its most tragic symptom.
Lisa Cashman