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Measure outcomes,  not news headlines

Measure outcomes, not news headlines

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin has warned of an “exponential rise” in terrorist activity in Australia inthe past two years. He cited the fact that there were 19 terrorism-related police investigations conducted in 2014, growing to72 in 2016 (“Politics live: Turnbull govt confronts spies, lies and refugees”,canberratimes.com.au, May 31 http://tinyurl.com/yddbcny. Based on the commissioner’s numbers, an unkind casual observer might suggest government efforts to stem the incidence of terrorism related activity are having precisely the opposite effect.

That said, we can’t really be certain of that without knowing what percentage of the investigations actually resulted in successful convictions. The Australian Federal Police would not be the first government bureaucracy to successfully justify large investments of taxpayer funds based on levels of “activity” rather than real “outcomes”.

– John Richardson, CLA member, Wallagoot, NSW

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