Book Review: GAME OF MATES - How Favours Bleed The Nation by Cameron K. Murray and Paul Frijters

• James Beatson

This book provides the evidence that underlines a popular belief that corruption by our politicians is endemic. ABC News reports that in poll after poll popular satisfaction with our political system has plunged to unprecedented lows.

This clever, short, easy to read book by two Queensland University academics, Lecturer Cameron Murray and Professor Paul Frijters, provides a forensic study of corruption in Australian politics.

The chapter titles give it away: The Great Property Development Game; The Transportation Game; The Superannuation Game; The Mining Game, etc.

Symbolically the book commences with the first parcel of land granted by Governor Arthur Phillip to an Australian convict, James Ruse, in February 1790 as Ruse switched from being a convict to supporting the government.

The Transportation Game and The Great Property Development Game are emblematic of The Game.

The authors describe young future land developers, getting jobs in politics, business or the public service where they enjoy regular contact with senior politicians and industry leaders. Creating friendships that can create changes to zoning and planning rules, and to political campaign contributions.

While community members are able to give written and verbal inputs to public planning panels, such panels do occasionally oppose developments over environmental, traffic or other elements.

But there’s a twist! Developers can appeal such decisions through state’s Land and Environment Courts, and typically win, since only government development laws are considered.

Local government is not written into our Constitution where local councils are just State government sub-sets.

The authors explain The Transportation Game works on the principle that “To own roads and other infrastructure would be worth a lot more than they cost to build, preferably paid for by government as well".

How? “The myth in this sector, and in so many others, is that the government budget is like that of a household, and that ‘governments must live within their means’ by cutting back spending and no longer borrowing to pay for new road and rail construction. Their story is that government debt would have to be paid by future generations, and future generations should be free of such obligations.”

“The solution that accompanies this myth is to let the private sector fund costly infrastructure projects and in return give them ownership for many decades with the right to charge tolls. It was the political mantra of debt-free government coupled with community misinterpretations as to how government debt functions.”… “What if the developer could bind governments into contracts where the developer would pay almost nothing, but make it appear on the government books that the developer was paying for it, allowing politicians to brag that they were investing in large infrastructure projects without paying for it? If mates in government could keep to the story that they were doing the public a favour, they thought they could get away with it. And they did.”

“The basic strategy is to keep the costs of building infrastructure from appearing as public debt.”…” For example the New South Wales government granted a $223 million loan for the Sydney Harbour Tunnel that was never paid back."

The authors explains the one key ingredient are “grey gifts” given to project-aligned politicians, sub-contractors and bureaucrats, a process endemic in Australia.

The underlying reason? Running television and internet advertising campaigns in Federal and State elections costs millions. In the pre-electronic media-era of generations ago ‘pollies’ addressed large public meetings across our vast land, extensively covered by scores of regional daily newspapers and radio stations.

Today, unless you're playing the game of mates, or you’re Clive Palmer, it's just too expensive - a reason why small party’s important policies don’t receive significant media examination. Independents can do better, because actual knowledge of local candidates, can overcome big spending LNP and Labor campaigns.

The book can be borrowed at Gympie Library or bought on line. The book draws on many Queensland examples, with parallels federally and in all states.

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