I’ve been banging on (mainly to myself) for a while now about how its the bureaucrats that run government, not the politicians. In that most epic of Yes Prime Minister (2013) observations, the politicians are the publicly-elected marketing and communications arm of an unrepresentative, authoritarian regime, rarely exposed to sunlight.

It has been clear from reports that Liberal Politicians thought they knew a thing or two about how to run the country. They initiated the Commission of Audit, they then took the axe to an array of programs, and have consequently upset many sections in the community.

I’m arguing here that this is what happens when you let your marketing and communications arm run things. It looks tatty, disorganised and stupid.

If nothing else, bureaucracies are risk-averse and detail-oriented and particularly good at spotting problems before they arise, often to the point where nothing much happens at all.

What we’ve got now is a rabble.