The Auditor General's 2008 report should be required reading for every Bermudian who cares about the future of our island.

But be warned. The picture it paints is not pretty; in fact it is downright ugly.

You do not have to get to the end of its 234 pages to conclude that there is something deeply wrong at the centre of our government. You do not have to get to the end of this stunning report to conclude that Bermuda is in the midst of destroying its long and proudly held international reputation for financial and ethical integrity.

And mark my word: There is no ducking this. This report is about you and me as Bermudians. The ministers of this Government may be in charge of the country's finances, but it is our collective reputation as Bermudians that is being put at risk. We are being dragged down.

Let's forget for a moment that the Auditor General called for Police investigations into faith-based tourism and the National Drug Commission — two areas where millions of taxpayer dollars have vanished without a trace.

They are just the ugly tip of an iceberg that has formed at the centre of our public affairs, displacing our reputation for being a smart little island that plays by the rules, that manages its public affairs with prudence and care, that does things well — an island, in short, that has its act together. You can't really say that after reading this report.

Here is a list of words and phrases that kept popping up at me from the pages of the Auditor's report: negligence, misappropriation, fraud, failure to comply, lack of oversight, breakdown of internal controls and lack of accountability.

So deep is the misconduct, so widespread the carelessness that I found myself thinking of the word anarchy as I read through the report — make that financial anarchy. It fits.

Just consider the fact that no one seems to pay attention to rules and responsibilities. So we get managers of government entities promising "year after year" to implement Auditor recommendations to comply with legislation and strengthen accounting and management controls, "yet too often nothing happens."

Nothing indeed. Appendix 2 of the report contains 21 pages of audit recommendations alongside management responses. It is a litany of lip service; a disgrace.

Consider the fact that managers and ministers continue to do business with companies that haven't paid their payroll and pension taxes despite Financial Instructions that prohibit them from doing so. Consider that ministers and managers continue to award contracts without public tendering despite Financial Instructions banning the practice, which the Auditor says "has become a greater and greater problem…"

Consider that civil servants who want to report misdeeds and wrongdoings have expressed concerns that they no longer view the Public Service Commission as their protector; that going to it with their concerns would "be useless", even "dangerous".

Consider the Auditor's view that Cabinet Ministers interfering in the operations of government has become a problem so severe that he recommends they take a seminar in how our Westminster system of government works and a course on good governance in general.

I find this deeply concerning. After 12 years in power, the Auditor feels it necessary to tell this Government to go to school to learn the rules of government. Think about that. Is it the worm at the centre of this very troubling picture?

Ministers who simply don't get it; ministers who through their ignorance, indifference or wilful manipulations — you name it — are presiding over the decline of Bermuda. All of us who care about the future of this island have to fight what's going on. A lot of what gives us strength as Bermudians — our reputation for being special, for being a cut above the rest — is on the line. It's time to step forward for a better Bermuda.

Trevor Moniz is the United Bermuda Party Shadow Minister for Justice