Planning corruption magic: Now you see it, now you don't

So here’s how things are done in a banana republic.

Some very serious allegations of corrupt planning come to the attention of a government minister.

This minister does something very, very unusual, he instigates an internal investigation to see if there’s any substance to the allegations.

The investigation finds that there are indeed some very serious questions that need answering

But just as the minister is about to launch an independent, external inquiry he loses office and is replaced by a minister who thinks the allegations are spurious.

But this new minister can’t just ignore everything, even in a banana republic that wouldn’t look good, so he orders (another) internal review and lo and behold, this new review finds no evidence whatsoever of any planning corruption.

This ‘magical’ conclusion means there’s no need for an independent, external investigation.

And so, with a great sigh of relief, the politicians who got such an dreadful fright when the allegations were first made, can now return to their usual day to day work of collecting expenses, cheating the taxman and screwing ordinary citizens into the ground.

Happy days.