REPORTS: It wasn't our fault ... we're not to blame

Two reports issued overnight had me reaching for my dictionary to check my spelling of 'whitewash.'

• The Parole board's decision to release killer Graham Burton on parole was "a reasonable and responsible decision," says the report, issued by the Parole Board.
• The information given to the Parole Board by Corrections Department was "generally adequate," says the report issued by the Corrections Department.

Both reports found that all guidelines had been followed.

"We're vindicated," says the chairman of the Parole Board. It wasn't our fault, says the Correction Board.

Do you spot the problem here? One man was killed after a violent four-day rampage, just six months after this killer had been released from prison ... and no one is to blame.

I don't believe any human being in the country was concerned that the "guidelines" might not have been followed -- I have no doubt the jobsworths in Corrections and on the Parole Board would have covered their arses properly -- what people are concerned with are the guidelines that allowed this to happen.

That no-one involved sees anything wrong with what they've done, or nothing that requires any more than impotent hand wringing ... that perhaps is the final tragedy in this already tragic story, and a lesson for us all. With bureaucrats, it's always all care and no responsibility - and the 'care' is only for their own sorry arse.

UPDATE: Leighton Smith is interviewing the co-author of the report on the Parole Board as I type this. Burton he said, had been exhibiting "positive behaviour" in prison since at least 2004. Well that's okay then. (Newstalk ZB should have the audio for the interview up here soon.)