Where Are We Now, Friends (Or: The Silence Is Deafening)

AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

The reason given by the federal government for appointing six commissioners to the Royal Commission was that the enormous volume of work would require multiple hearings being conducted simultaneously.

So far, only a single hearing has been held with all six commissioners present. The “case study” format used for the first hearing, last week, is to be used for at least the rest of the year, with no multiple hearings. This means that there will be a few days of hearings, then a month or so of no hearings, for the foreseeable future.

So far, nearly a year has passed since the Royal Commission was announced by former Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and almost $100 million has been spent on it.

In the absence of multiple hearings, there will be very little to report on, especially since the first 4 “case studies” are already well-documented in both the media and the courts. It does seem strange that all six commissioners, at the first hearing, sat there in a row like stuffed chooks, with little or no involvement in the proceedings.

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