Energy Efficiency

It’s pretty common knowledge that many board members are elected not so much for real business accumen but because of their political connections.

Queensland has seen a spate of under-performers who obtained office (in State politics), continued their lack-lustre operand and subsequently had the ‘expertise’ to act as a go between for corporate and government ‘cohesivness’.

Recently NSW has likewise been been put under the light, seeing the rats scurrying about all awhile distancing themselves from the known crooks and yet to be proven crooks; the latest pilfering of public funds – which will probably be glossed over by various media types (who view their ‘results’ similar to Police who stick radar traps about, to keep the numbers up).

The St Vincent’s board has ‘lost $24m on junk bonds’ courtesy of former CEO Mary Foley and a former chairman Nick Curtis.

Who knows if we will ever find out what their kick-back was for almost $80 million (earmarked for new equipment, research projects, education and salaries), was used to buy high-risk bonds, the same kind responsible for triggering the global financial crisis last year in the United States.

Of course doctors are furious because research projects – some of which had already been granted funding – may now be cancelled and donors will be upset to learn their money – intended for good work – has been lost.

Although the National Health and Medical Research Council forbids its grants being used for any purpose other than the approved project and is demanding the funds be returned if the research is not carried out; its unlikely the hospital is in the position to and there are rumours that the hospital has been attempting to fill an $11 million hole in its budget.

Although the NSW Government should launch an investigation, its unlikely anything will come of it while certain sitting members protect their own backs and keep their snout in the trough.

There has to be auditors and the like who must have known about the misallocation of funds and strangely, the hospital apparently said it lost 32% of its ‘investments’ because it bought securities known as collaterised debt obligations, which are now worthless, but defended its right to use public money.

The question remains on how trust money – bequeathed or given to the hospital – was used to ‘invest.

Donors would be upset to lose their donated funds to financial mismanagement by the board and will badly damage the St Vincent’s Hospital name even though the hospital promised to underwrite any lost money allocated for research projects and said it had changed its investment strategies since the loss.

The board claims they ‘did not operate outside the law in the way the money was invested’, but the damage has been done and in a tighter economic market, it will be difficult to get ‘new’ investors and of course the real problem is if politicians again use public funds to bail out rather than prosecute.

It makes you wonder how much the public will stomach this lackadaisical management style synonymous with political manipulations and ‘jobs for the boys’.