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Victoria has been handed the shocking label of the worst-run state or regional government in the Western world by a former finance boss who used AI to rank 366 jurisdictions.
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who → see → jurisdictions
The analysis, conducted by economist, former BlackRock Australia boss and Melbourne local Maurice O'Shannassy, placed Victoria at the top of his AI Index of Capture, Economic Mismanagement and State Stress, known as AICES.
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analysis → conduct → AICES
It ranked administrations on their economic management, political capture and accountability.
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It → rank → management
O'Shannassy's index gave Victoria a score of 79.8 out of 100, ahead of the US state of Illinois on 77.4 and the Italian region of Sicily on 68.
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index → give → 68
New South Wales ranked ninth, with a score of 61, while Queensland and South Australia were ranked at 39 and 66 respectively.
Western Australia was the best-performing state, ranking 200 out of 366.
O'Shannassy said the project began almost by accident while he was researching state debt defaults in 19th century America.
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he → rank → America
'I was having a lunch break at my cafe while writing my recent Substack essay on how nine US states defaulted in the 1840s,' he said.
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he → have → 1840s
Maurice O'Shannassy (pictured) compared 366 jurisdictions to decide the worst run
'
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O'Shannassy → picture → run
It got me thinking about the "state of the states" in the world.
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me → get → world
What started as a curiosity quickly evolved into an attempt to rank hundreds of jurisdictions.
'
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started → start → jurisdictions
So, for fun, I asked ChatGPT some vague questions about which states or regions were the most badly run, using equally vague criteria such as economic mismanagement, corporate and union capture, failed accountability, impositions on individual freedom and outright corruption,' he said.
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he → ask → freedom
National governments and jurisdictions able to issue their own currency were excluded in an attempt to compare administrations operating under similar fiscal constraints.
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governments → issue → constraints
O'Shannassy's index measured seven categories across three broad pillars: economic mismanagement, capture and state stress.
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index → measure → pillars
The criteria included fiscal deterioration, project cost blowouts, corruption, clientelism, organised crime influence, emergency powers and accountability failures.
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criteria → include → deterioration
O'Shannassy said he compiled the rankings using ChatGPT and Grok, testing the systems' answers against each other before conducting further reviews.
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he → say → reviews
According to his index, Victoria's result was driven less by outright corruption and more by mounting debt, major spending blowouts, entrenched networks of influence and declining institutional accountability.
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result → accord → influence
Victoria was declared the 'worst run state' in the Western world according the analysis (file)
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Victoria → declare → analysis
While the report does not identify specific examples, Victoria has faced years of scrutiny over the cancelled Commonwealth Games, ballooning infrastructure costs and a debt burden forecast to approach $200billion by the end of the decade.
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Victoria → identify → decade
Major projects including the Suburban Rail Loop have also attracted criticism over costs, transparency and governance.
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projects → include → costs
Integrity controversies have similarly dogged Victorian politics.
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controversies → dog → politics
The Victorian Government's royal commission into corruption on taxpayer-funded construction projects has already heard evidence behind closed doors as it investigates allegations of criminal infiltration, intimidation, corruption and misconduct across the building industry.
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it → fund → industry
Opening the inquiry's first public hearing last week, Commissioner Christopher Kourakis said the commission would examine longstanding allegations of corruption, violence, coercion and bullying on Victorian construction sites.
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commission → open → sites
The inquiry followed the release of a report by Geoffrey Watson SC during a Queensland inquiry into the CFMEU earlier this year.
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inquiry → follow → CFMEU
In chapters removed from the final report but later made public, Watson alleged corruption and criminal infiltration involving the Victorian branch of the CFMEU may have cost taxpayers up to $15billion.
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corruption → remove → 15billion
CFMEU administrator Mark Irving KC said he ordered the chapters removed because he was not satisfied the conclusions were well-founded or properly tested.
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conclusions → say → ?
Watson defended his findings.
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Watson → defend → findings
Dan Andrews (left) and Jacinta Allan (right) could be called to the Royal Commission
The report detailed allegations of systemic bullying, unlawful conduct, intimidation and organised crime links within the construction sector, prompting renewed scrutiny of oversight and governance.
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report → call → oversight
Premier Ben Carroll established the royal commission after replacing Jacinta Allan as Labor leader in July.
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Carroll → establish → July
Allan had resisted calls for the inquiry.
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Allan → resist → inquiry
Both Allan and former premier Daniel Andrews could be called to give evidence.
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Allan → call → evidence
Despite receiving the highest overall score, Victoria did not receive the index's highest corruption score.
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Victoria → receive → score
O'Shannassy's index gave Illinois the highest corruption score, while Sicily was among the worst-ranked jurisdictions for organised crime influence.
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Sicily → give → influence
The Aporia
