The Pompous Goose

Not for Profits are interesting organisations. Too often they seem to fly under the good corporate governance radar; and, many struggle to maintain their reputation and relevance to their members and stakeholders. A loss for an NFP doesn’t seem to have the collective anguish as is the case in many profit maker organisations. Many folks within NFP management structures seem to mistakenly think a surplus is not required; they think delivering services is the most important activity and surpluses are for corporates to think about. Poor governance allows poor management; and, fraudulent activity grows within such a poor management environment.

The Health Services Union is a clear example of a dysfunctional NFP and perhaps is a metaphor for many other organisations within the NFP sector; poor HSU management and governance systems has lead to a loss of member funds, alleged misuse of credit cards, and over payments to the HSU executive. Yet it seems, from reading of many annual reports, these FWA findings may have more in common within the NFP sector than is currently reported. This is a very serious governance issue for NFP’s; but, little is done to ensure good governance and a reasonable return for members and stakeholders of NFP’s. For instance, who was charged with the overseeing of the HSU accounts and practices? It seems n0-one was until a whistle blower put up her hand. Disturbingly, there is an even more wasteful example of poor management and governance to be found in Australia’s biggest not for profit. More

Wayne Swan says the federal budget is a fiscal budget, not a political one. The history of broken promises and the constant superlatives from the Gillard Labor government has trashed their trust with the electorate. This budget is no different … the government’s credibility has worsened. Swan forgets that all budgets are as much political as they are an economic statement; and, his budget fails on both counts this year. There are hidden gems of despair in the budget, which many have missed, that confirm there is no fiscal rectitude in the budget. It tries instead, to buy votes.

The Labor Government fears the electorate. They fear what voters will do to them, as voters did in NSW and Queensland. The government has trashed their ALP brand and in doing so they have trashed our trust. The electorate are waiting to get rid of this government and the poor interest in Swan’s speech is a clear example of community disdain for Labor. Swan spoke to almost empty galleries in the parliament, and no one was ensconced around a television listening to his first surplus forecast speech. The metaphor we can take from this is, we have stopped listening. By contrast, Tony Abbott spoke to full galleries and in the airline lounges the televisions were well heavily watched. More