Sometimes the national news is hard to stomach. And sometimes it is illuminating.

It's been a painful but insightful few weeks for readers, watchers and listeners looking for the facts that explain life as we're currently living it.

In our federal administration there have been the latest revelations about the 'Robodebt' scandal; the gradual uncovering of the exploits of mega consultancy firms using inside information for their own wicked ends; and the exposure of multiple failures of our nation's regulators to, well, regulate cowboy construction companies going in and out of liquidation while accumulating massive fortunes and leaving an even more massive trail of human devastation in their wake.

It's not often that you get to chat casually about these goings on but a recent catchup with a connection who happens to work in the federal treasury department has joined some dots and confirmed two things for me.

First, that the ABC television series 'Utopia' really is much closer to a gritty reality show than an amusing satirical sitcom. I can never watch it. I've worked in local government and I find it strangely traumatising.

Second, that we have allowed Entitlement and brazen Self-interest to infiltrate our society to the extent that politicians and public servants are now guided by those chilly lights and have all but abandoned the warm, fuzzy - and essential - tenets of the Common Good and Personal Integrity that we all actually pay them for.

A cuppa and a chat with my Canberra connection revealed stories of public servants who smile, nod and rubberstamp ideas that are bad for the nation (and good for the bad guys) as they rise through the ranks.

These people, who are meant to provide Frank, Fearless and Ethical advice to our decision-makers, have been turning blind eyes or actively enabling the mega-wrongs mentioned above and each one is rewarded with salary packages roughly equivalent to our shire's annual roads budget and a house in the suburbs worth way more than Gulargambone's hospital (not joking).

Fortunately, no names were mentioned and my Canberra connection is no whistleblower, so no national expose is on the way for you Western Plains App reader.

But the evidence is out there. Thanks to the media we all love to hate, we now know where unbridled Entitlement & Self-Interest takes us.

What we do with the information we have is up to each of us.

These people are no better than the local low-lifers who steal cars out of our carports, drive around our neighbourhoods trashing fences and put a match in the vehicle when they're done.

The ‘top end of town’ version are still taking our hard-earned, driving it with reckless abandon, trashing our economy and then sticking a torch in the lives of ordinary Australians who are left to suck it up.

We need to insist on better behaviour from top to bottom. We should be asking questions and calling out those who erode the public interest through their side hustles, secret dealings, rule-bending, bullying, and complicated contracts that do not serve the common good. 

When you see it, say it. Don't let the nosy reporters go it alone to do it for you. Use your words. Lodge a complaint. Write to a Minister. Call your local MP. Email the Editor. Go to a public meeting. Get in touch with the Ombudsman. 

It may sound airy-fairy but what good is having a democracy if we don't use it? And what good are all these laws, departments and institutions if we don't make them work for us? What good is the public service if it doesn't serve the public?

It is a small sideways step from complacency to corruption.

It is much easier for politicians and public servants to do the right thing when they know their citizens care - and when they know we're watching.