Excellent article - of which, the rabids will buck without even reading it once they know the authors name
but, ---------------- one part of it hits the nail on the head
what's the biggest problem????????? ----------- democracy (that's how I read it)
"John Daley has led the non-aligned policy think tank, the Grattan Institute, for the past decade. And for his swansong piece of research he has gone back and looked at what factors blocked reforms promoted by both Grattan and the OECD between 2009 and 2019.
More than two-thirds of the suggested reforms have not been adopted. And his findings are that it has not been budgetary cost, parliamentary obstacles, federalism, or even vested interests that have been predominantly responsible. It has been popularity.
"Unpopularity has become an insuperable obstacle to reform, a significant change from the past when political leaders implemented many reforms even if they were unpopular, doing their best to explain why they were in the public interest," he says."
"What's missing? Well, Daley doesn't really say it out loud quite this way, but effective advocacy and leadership."
