When political parties seek the approval of the people to govern in Australia, they do so with the implicit if not explicitly stated promise that they will provide certain basic fundamental services that are expected in modern democracies.

These include, amongst others, a decent health system, transport system, education system and an affordable legal system that provides appropriate protection and safety from law breakers.

Experience in recent years both at the State and Federal levels, tells us that in reality, we may be forced to re-evaluate our expectations and significantly lower the bar in how we hold politicians to account for their failure to produce.

Over the last decade, at least, the health system in SA has lurched from one disaster to the next costing this community both millions in dollars and in a shattering of public trust.

Parties on both sides of the political divide have tried and patently failed to provide us with hospital, ambulance and medical services that are adequate for the size and age demographic of our community. They have thrown money at the problem, brought in “experts” from all over the world at huge expense, all to little if any effect.

The latest attempt by government, while laudable in its motivation, is both a recognition and an admission that they cannot cope with this issue. It is the cessation of imagination and a deflection of responsibility to someone else. It enables government to say that they have brought in the experts and done their best while maintaining for themselves plausible deniability when the attempt fails. Where are the visionaries?