Definition of Optimism, Narcissism and Denial all in one

Sorry Col, but a lot of us think you have lost any credibility when it comes to trust, whether it's keeping promises (such as 'no forced local government amalgamations') or having the best interests of WA at heart (such as all those unfunded infrastructure projects and losing the AAA credit rating).

I can't help but point out that the signing of the contract (by the previous Liberal government of Richard Court - just a few months before an election) that has left us in this apparently parlous position with regard to Len Buckridge has  eerie parallels with an episode of Yes Minister ('The Skeleton in the Cupboard') in which it is found that in the 1950s, the Ministry of Defence took out a lease on a Scottish island and developed it for habitation by the Royal Navy. Now the lease has expired and the owner wishes to modernise the facilities to make a holiday camp. As the original contract was made under Scottish law, and the civil service official in charge [Humphrey Appleby, now Sir Humphrey and head of Jim Hacker's department] didn't know that it differed from English law, the MoD can't be paid a penny for the improvements it made.

That little mistake was said to have cost the fictional UK taxpayer £40 million - $220 million at today's prices and exchange rates - a drop in the ocean compared to Len Buckridge's claim - but we're real taxpayers having to foot the bill, not fictional ones.