Bureaucrats reign supreme in Australia’s utopian dream

If you are a struggling worker who tests positive for COVID in Australia from next week onwards, you are meant to be deeply grateful that you must now 'only' remain locked in your home for five days, not seven. Such is the vision of the Albanese-era National Cabinet, which shows that changing the government changes nothing.

Sadly, Mr Albanese has joined his state colleagues in genuflecting before the almighty 'advice' of secretive health commissars, holding firm to the belief that COVID authoritarianism beats all other considerations. 'Bipartisanship' simply means that both Labor and Liberal frantically agree it is far too dangerous to openly challenge the sovereignty of unelected bureaucrats, and better to attempt a painfully slow weaning process.

Instead of standing united to return to something resembling a functional liberal democracy, our so-called leaders prefer to dither over how much more debt and chaos the nation should bear in order for none of them to have to upset a bunch of power-drunk health officials. Meanwhile, those officials cling to whatever rules their latest bout of anxiety dictates, no matter how much pain their whims inflict on workers and the community more generally. Even the unions finally seem to have had enough, but the fact that this barely dings the position of Labor 'leaders' speaks volumes about how commanding the bureaucracy has become.

It is no secret that senior bureaucrats have been handed unprecedented clout by successive governments who use the public service as a shield for their own gutlessness. Indeed, 'following the advice' is a neat way for politicians to hide from any consequences when a brown trousers moment comes along. However, the bureaucrats who benefit from this little arrangement are largely spared from scrutiny, too often viewed as caring types who simply want to save lives through an abundance of caution, and who are taken advantage of by wily, unscrupulous Ministers. What rubbish.

Despite being allowed to get away with the pretence of pious altruism, the upper echelons of the public service are chiefly concerned with saving their own skins. The reality is that they are, by and large, equally as self-interested as politicians, and even more ruthlessly hellbent on never being held accountable for their decisions. Having been completely willing to take the kudos and resources that politicians hand over in return for avoiding the job of real decision-making, bureaucrats know full well that they will be the ones who lose their next cushy promotion if something goes 'wrong.' Paralytic risk aversion is the best way for them to avoid that – whatever the cost to others in livelihoods, liberty, mental health, or quality of life.

The joint desire of politicians and bureaucrats to avoid blame and maintain their own status has created an utterly toxic relationship of mutual wink-wink nudge-nudge, based on fear of losing face and interspersed with selfish battles over who can pass the buck most successfully. Whenever a Minister nods rapturously at every word a puffed-up official says, we should feel a chill go down our spines. Whenever a sly-eyed politician says that they will do whatever their department advises, we should be demanding better. Whenever both collude to avoid debate or questions, we should be outright furious. This you-scratch-my-back façade of democracy and the cowardice it perpetuates is exactly why Australia has become a basket case.

In socialist Edward Bellamy's 1888 novel Looking Backward he depicts a utopian future in which politicians no longer exist because politics was deemed detrimental to society's smooth functioning. Society's every need is instead determined and served by a vast, utterly benevolent public service that exists only to ensure the wellbeing of all. There is no need for independent oversight, because it is accepted without question that the bureaucracy knows best.

Thanks to weak-kneed Albo and the petrified Premiers, we now see what the utopian dream looks like in reality. A country where politicians throw their own power away in order to avoid responsibility, and are now incapable of doing the very job they are meant to: weigh up a wide range of different considerations and make difficult decisions that serve the long-term good of the nation. A society where elected representatives have been cowed into submission by career bureaucrats who see themselves as the real authorities, without the encumbrance of elections, the awkwardness of being publicly questioned, or the complexity of having to think outside their own narrow empires. A system where to protect their own advancement, public servants enthusiastically inflict untold damage on the most vulnerable members of the public, and parliamentarians cough up any amount of cash to avoid having to rein in the mess their own actions created in the first place.

True leadership takes mettle and integrity, and National Cabinet contains none of that. For their own short-term protection Labor and Liberal choose utter feebleness at every turn, abandoning Australians to the dubious 'mercy' of those who we cannot even vote out. Change that, Mr Albanese, and you can really call yourself a leader.