Comments on: Shining a light in the basement attic of responsible government http://clubtroppo.com.au/2010/03/14/shining-a-light-in-the-basement-of-responsible-government/ Fearlessly dispensing political, legal and economic analysis (and some whimsy) since 2002 Fri, 25 May 2012 13:31:17 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Paul Frijters http://clubtroppo.com.au/2010/03/14/shining-a-light-in-the-basement-of-responsible-government/#comment-362988 Paul Frijters Wed, 17 Mar 2010 07:47:36 +0000 http://clubtroppo.com.au/?p=10589#comment-362988 hmmm, all this is heavy legal stuff for a mere economist, but if I get you correctly you are essentially saying that parliaments could make life much more difficult for ministers and their staff than it is at present, and that they refrain from doing so because of reciprocal relations between the major political parties. Surely this can only work if behind the scenes the political parties do share the information that would come into the limelight, allowing them to make the judgement call that each individual case simply does not have enough short-term political gain to warrant the break-up of the reciprocal relation? If there wouldnt be this behind the scenes revelation it would seem too tempting not to break the convention. Is there any knowledge on whether such an information safety valve indeed exists? hmmm, all this is heavy legal stuff for a mere economist, but if I get you correctly you are essentially saying that parliaments could make life much more difficult for ministers and their staff than it is at present, and that they refrain from doing so because of reciprocal relations between the major political parties. Surely this can only work if behind the scenes the political parties do share the information that would come into the limelight, allowing them to make the judgement call that each individual case simply does not have enough short-term political gain to warrant the break-up of the reciprocal relation? If there wouldnt be this behind the scenes revelation it would seem too tempting not to break the convention. Is there any knowledge on whether such an information safety valve indeed exists?

]]> By: Ken Parish http://clubtroppo.com.au/2010/03/14/shining-a-light-in-the-basement-of-responsible-government/#comment-362859 Ken Parish Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:55:09 +0000 http://clubtroppo.com.au/?p=10589#comment-362859 I added the "afterthought" above at the same time Nicholas was adding his comment. It seems we both had a similar thought at the same time. I added the “afterthought” above at the same time Nicholas was adding his comment. It seems we both had a similar thought at the same time.

]]> By: Nicholas Gruen http://clubtroppo.com.au/2010/03/14/shining-a-light-in-the-basement-of-responsible-government/#comment-362856 Nicholas Gruen Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:29:36 +0000 http://clubtroppo.com.au/?p=10589#comment-362856 <em>At least at federal level, both Labor and the Coalition operate on a Mutually Assured Destruction approach to Senate powers: they each avoid establishing a precedent for forcing ministerial staffers to give evidence lest it later be used against them when they’re in government.</em> We'll see Ken. My guess is that conservatives will be the first to break this convention. They're more relaxed about such things. Always have been. Always will be. At least at federal level, both Labor and the Coalition operate on a Mutually Assured Destruction approach to Senate powers: they each avoid establishing a precedent for forcing ministerial staffers to give evidence lest it later be used against them when they’re in government.

We’ll see Ken. My guess is that conservatives will be the first to break this convention. They’re more relaxed about such things. Always have been. Always will be.

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