Australia which boasts of a clean public service and has more red tape and safeguards unmatched by any western countries other than the UK is least expected to fall into picking the wrong man for the job. But it did.
"The federal cabinet was unaware of two US lawsuits that arose at corporate watchdog chairman Greg Medcraft's former employer before he was hand-picked for the $700,000-a-year top job.
The Treasury also confirmed it had not advertised Mr Medcraft's position and had advised ASIC to appoint him as chairman.
An ASIC spokesman said Mr Medcraft could not disclose the specifics of the case, citing confidentiality. "
While majority of public service aspirants compete for well paid jobs with stringent selection criteria, the top positions are not subject to the same rigorous exercise and due diligence?
To whom is the government recruiter accountable to?
Can this be hushed up and forgotten because of confidentiality and national interests?
How different is this from revolving doors and lobbying in the USA and networking or "guan xi" (a euphemism for cronyism) in China and many developing nations? It is not just another $200,000 job but a whopping $700,000 of taxpayers' money!
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