Our new Prime Minister says that he wants to make the civil service more efficient. Here's an article that explains how one country has already done this.
#RedTape
What does the AFR say about University administration?
“Are Australian university #bosses worth the big bucks? Australian vice chancellors earn far more than their #peers in the #UK, #US, #Canada and #NewZealand. Is this justifiable?”
“Australian #universities, it seems to me, are subject to two different forces: #managerialism and a heightened #regulatory state. By having so much #RedTape attached to universities by #government, we end up needing a lot of processes and the VCs are there to make sure their universities are fulfilling all those sets of #regulations,” Forsyth says.
She agrees with Robinson that university governance is at the core of the explosion in executive salaries. Whereas Robinson points to a lack of #experience and #expertise on university boards, Forsyth blames the loading of #CorporateTypes on university #councils and in #Chancellor positions, which she says fundamentally changes the focus from academia to money-making #enterprises.
“I think this has enabled councils to leave the managers in charge and act in solidarity with them,” she says. “Councils are stacked with people who are going to be on the vice chancellor’s side from an ideological perspective.”
Forsyth, author of “A History of the Modern Australian University”, was made redundant last year from #AustralianCatholicUniversity after it shut down a raft of courses in the humanities, including #ResearchInstitutes in #philosophy and #history.
She notes that for decades, #ViceChancellors have been whinging about the lack of #GovernmentFunding, but achieved very little in return. At the same time, they have overseen mass #casualisation of staff – #HigherEducation has the largest proportion of causal and contract staff of any sector in the economy – while ignoring widespread #WageTheft – now estimated to be as high as $160 million affecting 100,000 employees in almost all universities”
<https://archive.md/uJS5u> / <https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers/education/are-australian-university-bosses-worth-the-big-bucks-20240122-p5ez5x> (paywall)
🚨🤦♂️ Oh no, the world is ending because some bureaucratic contract was almost not renewed for CVEs! Quick, we need professional #certifications to save us from the hordes of unreported vulnerabilities! 🤓 Because nothing spells #cybersecurity like more red tape and bureaucracy. 🙄
https://gavinhoward.com/2025/04/replacing-cve #redtape #vulnerabilities #bureaucraticcontracts #HackerNews #ngated
State by State Pending and Recently Passed #AntiProtestLaws: #Iowa
SF 342: Heightened penalties for protesters convicted of "riot," "unlawful assembly," or blocking traffic, and immunity for #drivers who injure them
Introduces felony penalties for the offense of "riot," previously an aggravated misdemeanor, such that the offense is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and $7,500. Preexisting law defines "riot" as a group of three or more people assembled "in a violent manner," at least one of whom uses any unlawful force or violence against another person or causes property damage. The law also converts "unlawful assembly" from a simple to an aggravated misdemeanor. Preexisting law defines "unlawful assembly" as a group of three or more people, any of whom are acting "in a violent manner," and who intend that any of them will commit an offense. Under the law, it is a serious (rather than simple) misdemeanor, punishable by one year in jail and a $1,875 fine, to "obstruct" a sidewalk, street, or "other public way" with the intent to hinder its use by others. If an individual obstructs a sidewalk or street while "present during an unlawful assembly," it is an aggravated misdemeanor, punishable by 2 years in jail and a $6,250 fine. If an individual obstructs a sidewalk or street while "present during a riot," it is a Class D felony, punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a $7,500 fine. Under the law, a driver who injures someone who is participating in a "protest, demonstration, riot, or unlawful assembly," engaging in "disorderly conduct," and blocking traffic, is immune from civil liability as long as the driver was exercising "due care" and the protester did not have a permit to be in the street. The law would also allow law enforcement who experience a physical or other injury while on duty to pursue civil damages from a person, group, or organization. Finally, the law creates a new felony offense for "defacing" public property, "including a monument or statue." The offense, a Class D felony, is punishable by up to 5 years in prison, a $7,500, and mandatory restitution for any property damage. This law was introduced and passed by the Senate as SF 534, but passed by the House as an amendment to SF 342.
Full text of bill:
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=89&ba=SF%20342
Status: enacted
Introduced 1 Mar 2021; Approved by Senate 10 March 2021, Approved by House 14 April 2021, Signed by Governor 16 June 2021
Issue(s): Civil Liability, Protest Supporters or Funders, Driver Immunity, Riot, Traffic Interference
HF 952: Requiring state permission for protests in the capitol and on capitol grounds
Would require organizers to have a government sponsor in order to hold protests in or near the Iowa capitol. Under the bill, organizers cannot hold “events” in capitol buildings or on capitol grounds unless they have a “recommendation” either from a statewide elected official or by both a member of Iowa’s state senate and its house of representatives. The bill would also prohibit the same person from holding more than six “events” per year in or around the capitol. Neither the bill nor the relevant provisions of Iowa law define “events,” such that they could seemingly include public protests and demonstrations. As such, the bill would effectively give elected officials authority to allow or disallow protests near the capitol.
Full text of bill:
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=91&ba=HF%20952
Status: pending
Introduced 12 Mar 2025.
HF 25: Heightened penalties for #MaskedProtesters
Would increase the penalty for any offense if committed by someone wearing a mask or other device that concealed their identity for the purpose of facilitating the offense. The bill provides #exemptions for masks worn in a number of contexts, including holiday costumes, medical masks, and “#hood[s]” or other “disguise[s]” worn by members of “a society, order, or organization while engaged in any parade, ritual” or “ceremony.” As such, for instance, members of the #KluKluxKlan would seemingly be exempt from enhanced penalties for illegally blocking traffic while parading in the street wearing hoods. The bill does not exempt masks worn during public protests, nor does it limit the enhanced penalties to violent crimes. Accordingly, a peaceful protester who committed a nonviolent offense while wearing a mask could face steeper penalties. A masked demonstrator engaged in a vigil who failed to disperse after being ordered to do so by police, for instance, could face up to a year in jail, rather than 30 days.
Full text of bill:
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=91&ba=hf25
Status: pending
Introduced 14 Jan 2025.
Issue(s): #FaceCovering
#FirstAmendment #CriminalizingDissent
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #Clampdown #CriminalizingProtest
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol #AntiProtestLaws #TrafficInterference #MaskBans #HoodsAreOK #HeatherHeyer #UniteTheRight #DrivingDownProtestors #LimitingProtests #RedTape
Europe's GDPR privacy law is headed for red tape bonfire within 'weeks'
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-gdpr-privacy-law-europe-president-ursula-von-der-leyen/
#HackerNews #GDPR #RedTape #Bonfire #Europe #Privacy #Law #UrsulaVonDerLeyen
Since the EU referendum, the UK civil service has grown by approx 130,000 employees. Just to recall, the entire European Commission employs 32,169 people. The EU system as a whole has around 60,000 civil servants serving a bloc of 27 countries.
#redtape #bureaucracy
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:2kf2qj56o2vq7jfaq4x4ogp6/post/3llyximzz6c2w
😂💡 Oh look, someone discovered that building things can actually be beneficial for the economy! Who would've thought that letting people live where they want and not strangling #development with red tape could be more effective than tariffs? 🏗️🤦♂️
https://www.slowboring.com/p/yimbyism-as-industrial-policy #buildingthings #economy #redtape #innovation #HackerNews #ngated
We are like hermit crabs when it comes to housing | @destiny
#PublicHousing #Abundance #EzraKlein #DerekThompson #RedTape
Deregulation in Argentina: Milei Takes "Deep Chainsaw" to Bureaucracy
#HackerNews #Deregulation #Argentina #Milei #Bureaucracy #RedTape
"The #government has launched an “action plan to cut #redtape and kickstart #growth”. There is much to applaud, but a sophisticated #publicdebate on #regulation remains elusive, says Matthew Gill"
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/governments-regulation-pro-growth
#governmentpolicy
#UKpol
#LabourGovernment
#strategicthinking
#longtermgrowth
#longtermgoals
#civilservice
#publicsector
"The red tape of government bureaucracy spans more than 4,000 years, according to new finds from the cradle of the world’s civilisations, Mesopotamia.
Hundreds of administrative tablets – the earliest physical evidence of the first empire in recorded history – have been discovered by archaeologists from the British Museum and Iraq. These texts detail the minutiae of government and reveal a complex bureaucracy – the red tape of an ancient civilisation.
These were the state archives of the ancient Sumerian site of Girsu, modern-day Tello, while the city was under the control of the Akkad dynasty from 2300 to 2150BC."
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/mar/15/stone-tablets-mesopotamia-iraq-red-tape-bureaucracy
💡What Should EU Lawmakers Do To Stay Ahead in the #AI Revolution? 🚀
⬇️ Lama Nachman underlines the importance of applying the #AIact dynamically. That means refining the Act in order to foster #innovation, while ensuring it doesn’t lead to #RedTape. 🎀
Press release 📑 #Tech Welcomes #RedTape Cutting Efforts by EU Commission, Calls for More Action
💬 "The @EU_Commission has shown a willingness to review past work, which is laudable. But this whole process feels haphazard."
Who would have guessed it?
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/brexit-nigel-farage-reform-poll-lead-eu-b1208962.html
#brexit #redtape #Europe
Chris Riddell on Rachel Reeves’ burnt offerings to the golden calf of #Growth #RedTape #Heathrow #HeathrowExpansion #ThirdRunway #Infrastructure – political cartoon gallery in London original-political-cartoon.com
Dave Brown @DaveBrownToons @Independent #RachelReeves #Starmer #KeirStarmer #Growth #RedTape #Heathrow #HeathrowExpansion #ThirdRunway #Infrastructure – political cartoon gallery in London original-political-cartoon.com
As an ex bureaucrat, in the health/tech area but a bureaucrat nevertheless...
Most folks are ignorant of the reason for #bureaucracy
Part of it is the neo-liberals nonsense whining about #redtape and making things #efficient
Part of it, unless you have tasted the sausage AND seen the sausage making machine from the inside, you do not appreciate the need for the sausage making machine.
So here is my off the top of my head list of why bureaucracy is NECESSARY.
1. The primary function of bureaucracy is to keep records. Bureaucracy started back in Sumer, when the number of agricultural products and names against them exceeded this one person can keep in their heads. They used clay tablets.
But it still holds true if you use a database.
2. You need a cadre of personnel who KNOW how to use the clay tablets.
Sure they can't sheer a sheep or dig an irrigation channel or carry a spear.
Those folks are really handy to have around and you can recruit some of your supervisors from that pool because they have the right mindset.
3. The least appreciated part of the reason for Bureaucracy is...to act as a handbrake. You do NOT want the arsehole at the top, who has no idea how to make shit happen have his every whim executed instantly. The bigger the change, the longer it should take.
Or shit will break.
As to the expedition of the drones, you need the form AH-2245/d.
If there is not one, you need to create one. That's how things work.
If there is no form like that, some arsehole who does not appreciate how bureaucracy works tried to balls-to-the-wall that process.
We have a system and it works.
Thanks to #Virginia Delegate David Owen for introducing #HB2480 to reduce the regulatory burden on new #housing to subsidize motor vehicle use. This made some sense a century ago when new safe homes were plentiful and safe smooth pavement was not, but things are very different today with a worsening housing #shortage . #zoning #waroncars #redtape #YIMBY https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20251/HB2480
How the Elon Musk-Vivek Ramaswamy DOGE initiative could help Americans dodge red tape
#Politics #USA #DonaldTrump #ElonMusk #VivekRamaswamy #DOGE #RedTape #Bureaucracy #GovernmentEfficiency #AdministrativeBurden #PublicPolicy #EfficiencyReform
https://the-14.com/how-the-elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-doge-initiative-could-help-americans-dodge-red-tape/
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