Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JUN 2023年6月 亞博匯 58 COLUMNISTS I anticipate the Australian government’s proposed Evaluator-General won’t succeed, either. There will be toomany forces lined up against it. Wise heads will recognize the political risks associated with being told that a policy initiative does not work. That will stop a proper evaluation process. Bureaucrats will know that if the Evaluator-General were to be given a decent run at examining government policies, politicians will accept the glory if a policy is considered to have delivered on its aims. However, if the policy has failed to deliver, politicians will ensure any failings will be transferred to the poor bureaucrats who had the responsibility of implementing the failed policy. As it will be bureaucrats charged with the establishment and operation of the Evaluator-General, it’s hard to see how they will allow it to succeed. Ironically, if an honest review is subsequently undertaken of the policy of establishing the Evaluator- General, it will likely conclude that this very policy will have failed. In short, policy evaluation is a noble aim. But an aim is all it will ever be in the area of gambling policy.