Michelle Gratton (The Conversation, 16.3.15) discusses the debacle over Pyne’s threats to the scientific community if his ‘reforms’ do not pass through the Senate. She concludes:
‘If the government had been more upfront before the election, and then had a broad inquiry and a consultative process, it would have both given itself a better chance of carrying reform and avoided some of the voter backlash.
‘If this legislation is lost, the debacle will made worse for the government by it having bungled the process – just as it did with the Medicare co-payment, which it recently dropped.
‘In general, the Abbott government simply does not understand the importance of proper “process”.’