| Friday, August 24, 2012 6:00 AM

The events of this week have to be a wake up call for the Government.

The damning reports have been rolling out, about administrative systems, leadership issues, facts, figures and processes.

The ACC reports provided no good news for the Government. Complete incompetence was evident at ACC when it comes to dealing with private information. There was a "cavalier" attitude to dealing with the data.

And as for leadership at board level - there was none. There was a total lack of communication and a lack of awareness about the effect the Bronwyn Pullar saga could have on the agency.

It's vindication for some - Pullar, those whose privacy was breached, and ACC claimants in general. Opposition parties who've been telling anyone who will listen about the systematic failures at the agency. Labour and the Greens can't help but ask if the cost cutting measures at the injury prevention agency in National's first term led to the problems. Minister Judith Collins of course denies that, calling those claims "ridiculous".

We are of course still waiting for some parts of this long running saga to end - the inquiry into who leaked Bronwyn Pullar's name to the media looks set to take some time. In February next year we'll see the defamation proceedings being taken against two Labour MPs by ACC Minister Judith Collins kick off. That's set to provide even more titbits about what goes on both at the corporation and in the Minister's office.

What's scary is that investigators found it could have happened at any Government agency. That's been revealed in the same week more systematic failures were revealed in the way teachers are vetted and checked. That report also found a complete failure in the processes of the education system.

We must remember the Government is still seeking to cut costs and scale back government departments across the board. The people who are losing their jobs are in the "back offices" - the administrators who the Government think we can do without. But if we're already seeing systematic failures at a number of government departments - and those are just the ones we know about - then what will happen if more jobs are lost.

And then yesterday we also had two major reports which provided more bad news for the Government. It was revealed in parliament KiwiRail have tried to stop media revealing a report that Labour claimed shows a plan that'll run down the network. And a report from the Social Development Ministry shows inequality in New Zealand at an all time high, with those on high incomes getting richer, and those on low and middle incomes struggling more than ever before.

Photo: Judith Collins (Getty Images)