NSW Transport Minister David Elliott has insisted he had no duty to stay awake or be contactable as public servants grappled with the decision to shut down Sydney’s rail networks on Sunday night.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Elliott said he was not aware of the decision to shut down the rail network across Sydney on Monday because he had gone to bed before the final call was made.
Elliott said he was “OK” that transport officials hadn’t called him in the early hours of the morning, “because I wouldn’t have answered the phone”.
Elliott insisted further that “we pay these people to do their jobs and I accept the fact that at 12.43am it was their judgement call as executives of the organisation that they needed to use their discretion and close the system. Did I like it? Absolutely not.”
“I go to bed between 10 and 11pm. At 12.43am on a Monday morning, I’m in bed,” Elliott reiterated, insisting he was only briefed about the situation when he woke up later that morning.
If Elliott really wants the public to believe his version of events, that he and Premier Dominic Perrottet had absolutely no say in, or awareness of, the decision to shut down the rail network, then it must be asked: is anyone in the NSW government going to take accountability for the chaos that has ensued?
On top of that, does anyone actually believe that the transport minister was not aware of the impending decision?
NSW Labor leader Chris Minns has put forward another version of events in parliament, revealing a text message from Elliott’s chief of staff to transport officials that indicated the minister had prior knowledge of the looming shutdown.
It should be noted that Transport for NSW is a state government agency, which Elliott has ultimate responsibility for as transport minister.
His attempt to abdicate any responsibility for the decision is just the latest in a string of examples from some of our political leaders who refuse to be accountable in their jobs.
Take federal Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck, who recently defended his choice to attend the cricket in Hobart in his capacity as sport minister, rather than attend a senate inquiry into aged care at the height of the Omicron outbreak in January.
“It was decision I made – and I have to live with it,” Colbeck admitted. “Other people will make judgements about it I’m sure, plenty already have.”
Colbeck has also continually insisted the aged care sector is not facing a crisis, despite the high number of infections and deaths among aged care residents this year suggesting otherwise.
“The sector is performing and has performed exceptionally well in the work that it’s doing,” he said.
And of course, there’s the primary example etched in to the minds of Australians, of Prime Minister Scott Morrison heading to Hawaii as bushfires took hold of the country, with devastating impacts.
“I don’t hold a hose, mate” is the now infamous line we heard from the prime minister.
This is the same Morrison who insisted Richard Colbeck should just “take any criticism on the chin” in relation to his handling of the aged care portfolio, and “get back to work”, without consequences for his actions.
Time and time again, we’ve seen ministers across our state and federal parliaments refusing to take responsibility for the jobs they’ve been elected to do.
Isn’t it beyond time we saw some accountability from our political leaders? The very people who have chosen to spend their days as elected representatives, supposedly serving the community.