It Means What I Want It to Mean

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At least that seems to be what Colin Barnett has been saying until he was finally forced by irrefutable evidence that he took "a bit of licence" with the letters he received from the Chairmen of Synergy and Verve.

This same assertion, which is effectively that the ends justify the means, underlies his approach to local government.

'The ends justify the means' is derived from Machiavelli's 'The Prince' - a treatise on how to gain power and hold onto it - and broadly means doing whatever is necessary to get what you want irrespective of the methods used to do so. 

There is often a high level of cognitive dissonance involved as the means would otherwise not be acceptable to the person concerned - especially if used by an opponent.

In both cases here, Synergy/Verve and local government so-called reform, there is not even any clear evidence that the ends are of any benefit to anyone. It is quite simply that, having nailed his flag to the mast, Col Pot is unwilling (or psychologically unable) to admit that his 'solution' might not be the best one or even (heaven forbid!) might be a non-solution to a non-problem.

Incidentally, does Colin Barnett have a history of getting rid of those who displease him? He clearly has problems with local government, especially in the western suburbs, but he was also the Education Minister who closed Hollywood High School, where he was educated. I wonder if he had bad memories of his school days that drove him to seek revenge?