The dud stirs

At long last the first hint is beginning to emerge that could explain the loopy attitude of the Victorian Government to electronic conveyancing. Consider this scenario: a company develops world-class expertise in building a state based electronic conveyancing system. Its employees are given key positions inside the bureaucracy by a grateful Government. Those positions allow them to influence the attitude of the Government to the future shape of electronic conveyancing. Nobody should be at all surprised at the outcome. The Victorian Government has for years been undermining attempts to build a single national e-conveyancing system. A single system is good for the nation. But it is not, by definition, a state-based system. Victoria has been trying to persuade bureaucrats from other states that the best thing they could do is adopt the sort of system that has been built in Victoria. The company and its employees have done nothing wrong. They have fulfilled their duty to shareholders and behaved honourably within the legal framework that governs their actions. That cannot be said for the Victorian politicians who allowed this situation to develop. They have behaved like babes in the wood.

Chris Merritt | The Australian | 11 July 2008