THE COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS

What is the Commonwealth of Nations of the 21st century ?

Jacintha Allan must learn from the Victorian government's Yes minister moment

The Age

22 March, 2024

More than half a billion dollars that could have been spent on new schools, hospital wings or upgrades to suburban roads has instead been squandered on a Commonwealth Games that will not be held in Victoria. A damning report from the state's auditor-general, Andrew Greaves, this week showed in some detail how Victorians were failed by their elected officials and bureaucrats and will be forced to pay the heavy price of $589 million for those failures.

Greaves' report provides a startling glimpse of the inner machinations of the government's processes. It showed the Games' initial business case, concocted by bureaucrats bent on pleasing rather than challenging politicians, recklessly underestimated the costs and exaggerated the benefits of hosting the 12-day event in regional Victoria.

The auditor-general noted the Department of Finance and Treasury and Department of Premier and Cabinet's advice to government consistently raised the risks of hosting the event - but their bureaucrats' advice was not always sufficiently comprehensive and frank. At key stages, both departments formally recommended that the government proceed with the Games despite significant and unresolved concerns.

Within that analysis, about 20 per cent of the benefits identified in the business case related to civic pride in regional areas and avoided health costs due to increased physical activity, which the Department of Treasury and Finance assessed as being overstated and asked that they be removed.

The report said the project's best-case estimate reflected "at best, an unwarranted optimism bias. At worst it was simply unrealistic and misleading."

In part, this blunder comes down to incompetence. Greaves revealed the $6.9 billion figure inflated when the jobs department double-counted $1 billion in cost risks, but failed to explain this to Treasury and the Department of Premier and Cabinet, which then approved the figure for the premier, who presented it to the public. If it weren't so serious, this incident could be mistaken for the plot of a Yes Minister episode. At least one without the laughs where the audience was charged half a billion dollars to watch.

Focusing on comical levels of incompetence alone lets the government off the hook by ignoring a deeper, more insidious problem: a penchant within government for leaning on bureaucracies or consultants to "prove up" rather than impartially examine the merits and risks of a desired political project. Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass exposed this tendency earlier this year, in exposing that PwC consultants were ordered to "prove up" the $125 billion Suburban Rail Loop.

History repeats with the Commonwealth Games, as bureaucrats required by law to give advice the government may not want to hear, instead slavishly rubber-stamp the government's political wish list. Such practices by the government suggest an appalling level of contempt for the people of this state who will have to pay these enormous bills.

Such cultural changes, based on the contents of the auditor-general's report at least, will take time and leadership. But in an era of tax increases, service cuts and soaring debt levels, Victorians should not be asked by their leaders to forgive incompetence or "unrealistic and misleading" justification for politically motivated projects of little benefit to the state.

The Commonwealth

Study online at https://quizlet.com/_88mzmg

1. How many members are part of the Commonwealth ?: 54 member states representing approximately 25% of the world's land)
2. How many people are part of the Commonwealth ?: approximately 2.5 billion (25% of the world's population)
3. What type of law is effective in the Commonwealth ?: The Common Law
4. What did the 1926 Balfour Declaration establish?: - Dominions are equal in status and not subordinate to the UK
- Dominions are united by common allegiance to the Crown
5. What marks the 1949 London Declaration?: It marks the beginning of the modern Commonwealth (countries independent and free to stay or not, most of them chose to stay)
6. Where and when was the Declaration of Commonwealth principles created ?: Singapore, 1971
7. What is the Commonwealth Charter and when was it signed ?: Adopted in Perth in 2012
Signed by the Queen in 2013
Lists 16 core values and principles
8. When is the Comonwealth day ?: 2nd Monday in March
9. How often are the Commonwealth Games hosted ?: Every 4 years
10. Are all Commonwealth members former British colonies ?: No, Rwanda an Mozambique were never part of the British Empire
11. Is the Commonwealth unique ?: No, there's the Commonwealth of Indepen- dent States, which was set up in 1991 by former members of the Soviet Union
12. GDP Gross Domestic Product: PIB Produit intérieur Brut
13. former colonies: anciennes colonies
14. wealth: richesse, opulence
15. currency: devise
16. figure: number
17. commitment: un engagement
18. issue: problème, question
19. sustain: soutenir, maintenir
20. adamant: inflexible, catégorique
21. swap: échanger
22. trade deal: un accord commercial
23. to sustain: maintenir, soutenir, entretenir
24. sustainable: durable
25. sustainability: durabilité
26. coat of arms: blason, armoiries
27. motto: une devise

28. relevant: pertinent
29. to enforce the law: faire appliquer, appliquer la loi 

30. to infringe: enfreindre, transgresser
31. to abide by the law: respecter la loi
32. head of state: chef d'état
33. to rule, to govern: gouverner
34. inhabitant: un habitant
35. to inhabit: habiter
36. uninhabited: inhabité