Labor apparently has a bad relationship with business. But what exactly does that mean, and why do voters not have a problem with it?
Australian public service
Time-honoured rituals of regulation live on
Tony Abbott’s promise to slash red tape is a time-honoured Canberra ritual, but it’s a hollow promise. And he should shake up his front bench to inject more policy nous into the mix.
Public servants: invisible heroes or easy targets?
Since 1990, the Australian Public Service has become more top-heavy, with a growing and male-dominated senior executive service and a corresponding reduction in the lower employment bands, writes Dr James Whelan, the public service program research director at the Centre for Policy Development
Mitch’s new public policy paradigm is just the old one continued
The public policy process has changed significantly in recent years, but not in the way our most prominent rentseeker claims.
Measuring Moran’s legacy inside and outside the public service
Terry Moran leaves behind a healthier, more independent public service — but the GFC was his key test.
Productivity, public servants and … that other P word
Robert Gottliebsen recently suggested public servants had the power to significantly improve national productivity if they so desire. Anyone who wants to improve public sector productivity needs to find better politicians first.
Public service ‘docile and unassertive’
A senior public servant has called for the public service to stop being so “docile” and start asserting itself more in the national interest — and given a backhander to ministerial staff along the way.
Green Loans: the monumental stuff up
The ANAO’s report on the Green Loans program is as bad as it gets and raises significant questions for the Public Service.
The whys and wherefores of bureaucratic blogging
The first was a fundamental rule that every public servant must live and breathe: that your personal views must be strictly separate from your professional conduct.
Minimal change in the bureaucracy as the Canberra arrangements are settled
There’s little change in the structure of the Public Service under Prime Minister Gillard.
Lessons in competence, Part 2: the need for speed
When it came to competence, things didn’t improve much in the Howard Government’s final term. But while the Public Service was slowly improving its administration, the biggest problems were caused by ministers.
The red and blue: the real story of post-election briefings
There’s nothing especially sacrosanct about the post-election briefings handed to ministers. They’re the bureaucracy’s effort to get ministers up to speed on what they need to do.
What does the Moran blueprint mean for public servants?
The public service reform proposals put forward by the Moran advisory group this week are likely to see significant changes for bureaucrats, and sooner than might be expected.
Getting the Public Service right: the blueprint for a new bureaucracy
Australia’s economic performance, and the quality of life for many of its citizens, depends fundamentally on the Commonwealth Public Service continuing to perform at a high level. A new blueprint proposes how to ensure that.
Gottliebsen: Giving the public service a serve
It’s time for a serious shake up of the Canberra public service. Good policies are being destroyed by incompetent management unable to deal with new or large plans, says Robert Gottliebsen.
Podger’s public service: the threat to good policy
Former Health Department Secretary Andrew Podger’s new book offers an intriguing insider’s perspective of how the Australian public service has both improved and regressed in recent decades.
Decoding Rudd’s public service reshuffle
Governments might appoint mates and fellow travellers to authority boards, and diplomatic posts, but Public Service Secretaries are too important for that.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: The role of the public service: Crikey readers respond (with lots more on our website)
Following a speech from PM’s department head Terry Moran, we asked Crikey readers to muse on the role of the Australian public servant. Muse they did …
The Moran public service revolution is underway
PM&C head Terry Moran has heralded a return to more centralised Public Service as part of an effort to strengthen its capacity for high-quality advice.
Crikey Says: Should our public servants serve the public interest?
What is the role of our public servants? Should bureaucrats serve the public interest, or is that a task that should be left to those who have to answer to the public?
Meat axe about to come down on the public service?
The “meat axe” promised in the election campaign was kept in the cupboard for last year’s budget. Has its time now come? asks Stephen Bartos.
Rudd looking for broadband experts
The Government placed ads in newspapers this weekend calling for “suitably qualified consultants” for a study to determine how the national broadband network will be built, financed and operated.
Robert Griew: from health to education
Yet another refugee from the state public service has found himself a senior position in Kevin Rudd’s Canberra bureaucracy.
Public service to become a Kevin 24/7 sweatshop
In the Public Service, when management issues a general call for voluntary redundancies, it’s pretty certain large cuts are on the way, writes Bernard Keane.
Your Say: Daily Mail readers' feedback: Comments, corrections, clarifications, and c*ckups
Bush’s Iraq exit … government ad spending … Dowding on other significant September 11s … evil and seditious websites … Pakistan … The Chaser …
