Here's a good move. Rudd is barring ministers from the Federal government from owning shares, and from working in the corporate sector for one year after they quit Parliament.
It removes a couple of possible sources of corruption and the perception of corruption.
2 comments:
I like the idea in principle (and it delivers a good headline). But does this then tell already "successful" business people etc not to get involved in the government? Some MPs already choose this path (which is a good thing), but I'm not sure all should be forced to.
Will the inability of government ministers to earn money from shares lead them to supplement their income from other sources which are far less transparent than publicly traded share registers?
A Howard Government minister was rightly sacked this year (or maybe last year) for holding and trading shares in a portfolio he was supervising.
It will be interesting to see how the code works, but if it is false righteousness and many of the other opportunities to sin are too alluring, don't be surprised.
nice...
but even still, I'm somewhat sceptical on how effective this would be. As you commented, it may work well to give the perception of corruption, and to some degree, even help remove some possible sources of corruption. but I fear that unless there is a true change of heart, people will always find another way to fulfil their lust. sadly, this goes to people without much public power like myself as well.
We all need to be renewed each and every day...
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