The SMH argues that the Prime Minister's decision to reward the cronyism of contacts is a needless destruction of the very trust he so very much needs.
The SMH says the Turnbull government has appointed 11 former Liberal MPs to high-paid government jobs in the past year, among them nine of the 15 who lost seats at the 2016 election.
It offers an example: former Liberal MP Natasha Griggs was appointed as the first female administrator of Christmas and Cocos Islands. The position pays $293,000 a year that is almost $100,000 more than Griggs received as a backbencher.
The paper points out that patronage systems in the public service are universally reviled as undemocratic and corrupt. Although, it says, there long have been calls for merit-based appointments, those in power have consistently resisted such reforms because they are seen to offer political executives flexibility to achieve a wide variety of objectives free from the hindrance of outsiders.
The SMH argues that the Prime Minister's credibility he so very much needs can be damaged by handing out well-remunerated "jobs for the boys/girls".
