The Carr government was elected on a lie to halve hospital waiting lists (they are now longer than ever) and to lift the tolls on the M4 and M5 (which never happened).

Long overdue reforms to our taxation and industrial relations systems by the Howard-Costello Government brought an era of unheralded prosperity to the nation. The NSW government was awash with money as the property boom went from strength to strength and record revenues were received from gambling taxes. Labor celebrated in style with the Sydney Olympics and other high profile events earning them entry to the big end of town.

Tuxedo clad Labor hacks rubbed shoulders with celebrities at trendy functions as they wallowed in the trough. There didn’t seem to be any end to the good times.

Big ticket items were announced with great fanfare, then re-announced with even more fanfare. They had no shame.

Infrastructure investment was put on the backburner because it is not near as sexy as the big ticket items at the big end of town. Railway tracks, suburban roads, rattling trains and bricks and mortar for schools, hospitals and police stations were ignored because they didn’t have the ‘wow’ factor that Labor Ministers and their hangers on were quickly addicted to.

The global meltdown brought the chickens home to roost. Heads began to roll as they scrambled out of their bloated taxpayer funded troughs for a reality check.

It was a political bloodbath. The Premier resigned. The Treasurer jumped before he was pushed. The Health Minister was dumped. The Planning Minister was sacked. The rats were scurrying between the deck chairs.

The State is now left with a 40 year old former garbage collector as Premier. He is steering the ship of State and doesn’t have a driver’s licence. The treasurer is a Labor hack and union bruvver who lives in the exclusive Eastern Suburbs.

The mini budget was their first attempt at establishing economic credibility. Media commentators, business organisations and the community have described it as the worst ever. A sham of epic proportions.

They have shamelessly robbed struggling families of their back to school alliance, made kids walk further to school, increased taxes, cancelled essential infrastructure projects and slugged long-suffering motorists.

The public response to the mini-budget was best summed up with the front page headline in the Daily Telegraph ‘The people of New South Wales have spoken – just sack yourself Premier and call an election!

The Carr government was elected on a lie to halve hospital waiting lists (they are now longer than ever) and to lift the tolls on the M4 and M5 (which never happened).

Long overdue reforms to our taxation and industrial relations systems by the Howard-Costello Government brought an era of unheralded prosperity to the nation. The NSW government was awash with money as the property boom went from strength to strength and record revenues were received from gambling taxes. Labor celebrated in style with the Sydney Olympics and other high profile events earning them entry to the big end of town.

Tuxedo clad Labor hacks rubbed shoulders with celebrities at trendy functions as they wallowed in the trough. There didn’t seem to be any end to the good times.

Big ticket items were announced with great fanfare, then re-announced with even more fanfare. They had no shame.

Infrastructure investment was put on the backburner because it is not near as sexy as the big ticket items at the big end of town. Railway tracks, suburban roads, rattling trains and bricks and mortar for schools, hospitals and police stations were ignored because they didn’t have the ‘wow’ factor that Labor Ministers and their hangers on were quickly addicted to.

The global meltdown brought the chickens home to roost. Heads began to roll as they scrambled out of their bloated taxpayer funded troughs for a reality check.

It was a political bloodbath. The Premier resigned. The Treasurer jumped before he was pushed. The Health Minister was dumped. The Planning Minister was sacked. The rats were scurrying between the deck chairs.

The State is now left with a 40 year old former garbage collector as Premier. He is steering the ship of State and doesn’t have a driver’s licence. The treasurer is a Labor hack and union bruvver who lives in the exclusive Eastern Suburbs.

The mini budget was their first attempt at establishing economic credibility. Media commentators, business organisations and the community have described it as the worst ever. A sham of epic proportions.

They have shamelessly robbed struggling families of their back to school alliance, made kids walk further to school, increased taxes, cancelled essential infrastructure projects and slugged long-suffering motorists.

The public response to the mini-budget was best summed up with the front page headline in the Daily Telegraph ‘The people of New South Wales have spoken – just sack yourself Premier and call an election!

They have perfected the art of providing ‘spin’ over substance.

But this week’s parade of shifty councillors, dodgy developers, crook officials, and a naive blonde council official before the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has revealed an interesting insight into how to do business under Labor in NSW. Bribery, nepotism, cronyism, cover-ups, sexual harassment and a ‘bit-on-the-side’ are straight out of a former Labor powerbrokers book – Whatever it Takes’.

Graham Richardson wrote the book. Maurice Iemma, who worked for Richo as a junior staffer, obviously read it.

The payoffs for property developers, who attend Labor fundraisers with key Labor Ministers and subsequently make generous donations to the ALP, are enormous.

Witness the report where Planning Minister Frank Sartor overruled the objections of local planning authorities and approved a land rezoning deal that turned a $4 million property into a $200 million bonanza for the developer. The developer had reportedly ‘donated’ $165,000 to the ALP.

Another report reveals the Premier and the Planning Minister received large donations from a developer wanting approval for an over-sized apartment block that had been rejected by the local council. The Planning Minister over-ruled the Council and gave the go-ahead.

If these reports are true then NSW has the best government money can buy!

The frightening thought of Frank Sartor and his Labor mates now wanting to raid Section 95 contributions of local councils is enough to send a shiver up the spine of every honest councillor in the state.

If anybody thinks the corruption, nepotism, bribery and cronyism unfolding in Wollongong is limited to the Illawarra they are delusional. One only has to review the level of property developer donations to the ALP throughout NSW to appreciate that ‘where there’s smoke there’s fire’.

There is a pungent smell of dog-poo on the shoes of Labor Ministers associated with the dodgy developers now appearing before ICAC. And a strong stench of corruption is beginning to permeate through Labor’s Wollongong valve. If it extends into the bowels of their wider caucus the Iemma government should take note of the old Italian proverb: ‘A fish rots from the head down’.

There is also an odour about the proposal to build an Islamic school for 1400 teachers and students in Camden. It becomes more pungent when the motives and money of the proponents are scrutinised and the political objectives of Labor are examined.

Whew!