THE EDITOR, Sir:THE NSWMA scandal reached its pinnacle when the former executive chairman told us all to 'shut our damned mouths'. It was at this stage that I really started to take notice.
Immediately after this, the Prime Minister decided to redefine the meaning of the word corruption to mean only dishonest situations in which money changed hands.
My Oxford dictionary defines corruption as acting dishonestly in return for money or personal gain. This definition says that corruption starts when somebody acts dishonestly and then qualifies the reasons why that person would act in that manner by stating that it is usually for money or personal gains. The definition of course omits situations where persons are blackmailed into corruption.
TRACING MONEY
Money is a tangible thing and so if it is involved as the fruit of corruption, it might be easier to trace than personal gains. If the persons involved, however, are adept at corruption, it might be hard to find if money changed hands. On the other hand, personal gain can be any number of intangible things that would be impossible to fathom. We therefore have to find a way to qualify whether corruption occurred at the NSWMA by determining if the board or other persons acted dishonestly in awarding the contracts and in spending the money in the manner that they did. If they acted dishonestly, then corruption took place.
Let us be realistic. It is impossible for a management team to go to the lengths described in the Contractor General's report to circumvent the procedures and practices of the organisation without an ulterior motive. Why would somebody go to such lengths if not for personal gain?
I agree with Pearnel Charles that somebody must be found criminally responsible for the breaches at the NSWMA. There must be some provisions under the new Companies Act that provide grounds for persons, especially those at the top, to be prosecuted. I hope the Government is not planning to let these persons go unpunished for this misdeed.
I would like to recommend that from now on persons who fail at management, whether in their private capacity or in the public arena, should be outlawed from managing public entities.
In this issue, the Government must let the chips lie where they fall. The Government should refrain from using semantics. Corruption is corruption whether there is tangible evidence that money changed hands or otherwise. People do not go to such lengths to circumvent procedures for free.
I am, etc.,
GEORGE YOUNG
cachidodo@yahoo.com
