For the fridge door. Abbott's new Ministry

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A TEAM TO BUILD A STRONGER AUSTRALIA

The incoming Coalition Government will restore strong, stable and accountable government to build a more prosperous Australia.

This is the team that will scrap the carbon tax, end the waste, stop the boats, build the roads of the twenty first century and deliver the strong and dynamic economy that we need.

First term governments are best served by Cabinets with extensive ministerial experience.  Fifteen members of the incoming Cabinet have previous ministerial experience.   The four members of Cabinet without ministerial experience have made significant contributions to the Shadow Ministry. 

The simplification of ministerial and departmental titles reflects my determination to run a “back to basics” government.

The Australian people expect a government that is upfront, speaks plainly and does the essentials well.

The Cabinet will be assisted by a strong team of ministers with proven capacity to implement the Government’s policies.

Parliamentary secretaries will assist senior ministers and be under their direction. 

Good government requires a strong Coalition.  As Deputy Prime Minister and as Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, the Hon Warren Truss MP will be responsible for ensuring the Government delivers on its major infrastructure commitments across Australia.  Mr Jamie Briggs MP will be the Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development with specific responsibility for roads and delivery of our election commitments across metropolitan and regional Australia.

The Hon Julie Bishop MP will serve as Minister for Foreign Affairs and will be a strong voice for Australia during a time when Australia is a member of the United Nations Security Council.  Australia in addition will assume the Chair of the G20 on 1 December for a year.  Senator the Hon Brett Mason will be Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. 

With the unemployment rate at its highest level in four years and with Treasury forecasting that the number of unemployed will rise to around 800,000 by the middle of next year, helping Australian businesses generate more jobs underpins our agenda to build a stronger economy.

Senator the Hon Eric Abetz as Minister for Employment, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on the Public Service and Leader of the Government in the Senate will be responsible for reducing impediments to employment growth.  In keeping with our pre-election commitments, the Coalition Government will restore the Australian Building and Construction Commission, return the industrial relations pendulum to the sensible centre and re-invigorate Work for the Dole.  Mr Luke Hartsuyker MP will be Assistant Minister for Employment and Deputy Leader of the House. 

Senator the Hon George Brandis QC will be Attorney-General, Minister for the Arts and Vice President of the Executive Council and will be responsible for establishing a bipartisan process that will lead to a referendum and recognition of indigenous Australians in the Constitution.  Mr Michael Keenan MP will be Minister for Justice.

Strengthening the economy, lifting productivity and turning around Australia’s competitive decline will be at the heart of the new Government.  By strengthening the economy we can create more jobs and better afford the services that we all want. 

As Treasurer, the Hon Joe Hockey MP will lead the Government’s work to restore the Budget position and grow a stronger economy.  Senator Mathias Cormann, as Minister for Finance, will be responsible for delivering better value for taxpayers.  Senator Arthur Sinodinos AO will be Assistant Treasurer.  His lifetime of experience in the public sector will provide further strength to our economic team.  Mr Steven Ciobo MP will be Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer and Mr Michael McCormack MP will be Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance.

Mr Barnaby Joyce MP will be the Minister for Agriculture and will be working to fulfil Australia’s potential as the food-bowl of Asia. The agricultural opportunities for Northern Australia in particular are immense.  Senator the Hon Richard Colbeck will be Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture.

Labor’s decision to split education across multiple portfolios hindered the capacity of different parts of the system to work together to improve educational standards.

The Hon Christopher Pyne MP will be Minister for Education and Leader of the House and will work with the states and territories to deliver real improvements across all aspects of education.  The Hon Sussan Ley MP as Assistant Minister for Education will continue her work with child care and early childhood education.  Senator Scott Ryan will be Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education.

The Hon Ian Macfarlane MP returns as Minister for Industry having held this role during the last two terms of the Howard Government.  Mr Macfarlane’s experience and record of success will be invaluable as we seek to build more competitive industries across Australia.  The new Industry portfolio will include responsibility for energy and resources. The Hon Bob Baldwin MP will be Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry.

I regret the absence of Sophie Mirabella who was a champion for Australian industry, particularly manufacturers.

The Hon Kevin Andrews MP will be Minister for Social Services and be responsible for the largest area of expenditure and payments in the Budget.  The new department will also be responsible for settlement services, multicultural affairs and the administration of aged care.  Senator Mitch Fifield will be Assistant Minister for Social Services responsible for the development of the National Disability Insurance Scheme and aged care.  Senator Marise Payne will be Minister for Human Services.  Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells will be Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social Services with special responsibility for multicultural affairs and settlement services.

The Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP as Minister for Communications will deliver a new business plan for the NBN so that we can deliver fast broadband sooner and at less cost.  Mr Paul Fletcher MP will be Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications.

The Hon Peter Dutton MP will be Minister for Health and Minister for Sport.  Senator Fiona Nash will be Assistant Minister for Health.  Responsibility for mental health will rest with Peter Dutton ensuring responsibility for this issue remains in Cabinet.

Small business employs almost one in two Australians and its stand-alone presence in Cabinet acknowledges its role in job creation. The Hon Bruce Billson MP is an evangelist for small business and will drive the Government’s small business agenda.

The Hon Andrew Robb AO MP, serving as Minister for Trade and Investment, will be Australia’s ambassador for jobs by expanding Australia’s participation in free trade agreements.

Senator the Hon David Johnston will be Minister for Defence and will drive the development of the Defence White Paper as well as overseeing the Coalition’s defence procurement programme.  Senator the Hon Michael Ronaldson will be the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Special Minister of State and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC.   The Centenary of ANZAC will be a significant marker in our country’s history. Mr Stuart Robert MP will be Assistant Minister for Defence with responsibility for personnel matters.  Mr Darren Chester MP will be Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence.

The Hon Greg Hunt MP as Minister for the Environment will have responsibility for the abolition of the carbon tax, implementation of the Coalition’s Direct Action plan, the establishment of the Green Army and the creation of a one-stop-shop for environmental approvals.  Senator Simon Birmingham will be Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment and have responsibility for water.

Mr Scott Morrison MP will be Minister for Immigration and Border Protection.  Senator Michaelia Cash will be Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection.  This is a strong team to stop the boats. 

Recognising its key role in border protection, Customs will be in this portfolio.

Senator Cash will also be appointed as Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women. 

As promised, the administration of indigenous affairs will move into the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.  Senator the Hon Nigel Scullion will be Minister for Indigenous Affairs.

Recognising the value of deregulation to improving Australia’s productivity, responsibility for driving the Government’s deregulation agenda will shift to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. 

Mr Josh Frydenberg MP and Mr Alan Tudge MP will be my Parliamentary Secretaries.

The Hon Bronwyn Bishop MP, with my support, is nominating for the role of Speaker.

The Hon Warren Entsch MP has agreed to chair a new Joint Parliamentary Committee on Northern Australia. Carefully developing our long-term plan for Northern Australia will be a priority of the new Coalition government.

The Hon Philip Ruddock MP has agreed to be Chief Government Whip.  I can think of no better person in the House to guide the 30 or so new Coalition members in their duties.  Ms Nola Marino MP and Mr Scott Buchholz MP have also agreed to be Whips. Mark Coulton is the Nationals’ Chief Whip.

The Senate Whips are elected by the Liberal and Nationals Senate Party Rooms.  The current Senate Whips are Senator Helen Kroger (Chief Government Whip), Senator David Bushby (Deputy Government Whip), Senator Chris Back (Deputy Government Whip) and Senator John Williams (Nationals Whip).

This is an experienced and talented team.  It will deliver results for the Australian people from day one. 

16 September 2013

DEPARTMENTAL SECRETARIES

As part of the Machinery of Government Changes agreed by the Governor-General the Honourable Quentin Bryce AC CVO this morning, Her Excellency has made a number of appointments of Secretaries.

Ms Lisa Paul PSM AO has been appointed as the Secretary of the Department of Education.  Ms Paul has been Secretary of the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and the Department of Education, Science and Training and brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to this new Department. 

Dr Paul Grimes PSM has been appointed as the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture.  Dr Grimes was formerly Secretary of the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities and has had a distinguished career at the State and Commonwealth levels in a number of Departments.

Ms Glenys Beauchamp PSM has been appointed as the Secretary of the Department of Industry.  Ms Beauchamp has been Secretary of the Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sports.  She has had an extensive career in the Australian Public Service at senior levels with responsibility for a number of significant government programmes.

Two new Secretaries have been appointed.  Dr Gordon de Brouwer PSM has been appointed as the Secretary of the Department of the Environment and Ms Renée Leon PSM has been appointed as the Secretary of the Department of Employment.

Dr de Brouwer has most recently been an Associate Secretary in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet where he has had primary responsibility for advising on Australia’s participation in the G20 process.

Ms Leon has been a Deputy Secretary in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet where she headed the governance group.  She was previously Chief Executive of the ACT Department of Justice and Community Safety and has held a number of senior positions in the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department.

I take this opportunity to acknowledge three former Secretaries, Dr Don Russell, Mr Blair Comley PSM and Mr Andrew Metcalfe AO.   Each of these Secretaries has made a substantial contribution to public life in Australia and I wish them well for the future.

Dr Martin Parkinson PSM has advised the Treasurer that he will be standing down next year.  He has agreed to stay on to the middle of 2014.  The Government will be discussing a further appointment with him next year.

I look forward to working again with Australian Public Service.

18 September 2013

ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTS




TAKE TWO





And a memory of simpler times

Made by The National Film Board 1957. Directed by Shan Benson. Enjoy:






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No skills, no clues. The states that mismanaged the Education Revolution

BUILDING BADLY

Building the Education Revolution

NSW

Cost per square $3500
Projects complained about 8%

Victoria

Cost per square $3000
Projects complained about 4%

South Australia

Cost per square $2500
Projects complained about 1%

Western Australia

Cost per square $2000
Projects complained about 1%


The Lost Lessons of the BER Program, Centre for Policy Development. Building costs are adjusted for remoteness of location.

Were the Building the Education Revolution projects run badly? Only in states where governments that chose not to run them, according to new research published today that targets NSW and Victoria for special criticism.

The analysis by the left-leaning Centre for Policy Development finds the Labor governments in NSW and Victoria performed the worst on just about every measure when it came to handling the funds doled out during the 2008 financial crisis to build new school halls.

In contrast the Liberal government in Western Australia and the labor government in South Australia performed well.

Only 1 per cent of the projects in the smaller states received complaints compared to 8 per cent in NSW and 4 per cent in Victoria. The costs in the big states were $500 to $1500 per square metre higher.

The study says the big difference is that NSW and Victoria contracted out most of the management to big building firms. South Australia and Western Australia managed the projects themselves...

“Victoria and NSW divided up their state into large geographic areas and said to the contractors - it’s your responsibility to make sure these schools are built. The smaller states still had the functioning public works departments and did the work themselves,” said lead researcher Tim Roxburgh.

“Victoria really had no choice, the cutbacks in the Kennett era had stripped the place of engineers and architects. NSW did have the capacity to manage its program itself but didn’t bother.”

“It is not that governments need to build things from floor to roof, what they do need is enough expertise to interact skillfully with the private sector in order to achieve value for money. At some point someone in the public service needs to know something about the details of engineering.”

The study finds the similar pattern in Catholic schools which generally did well making use of in-house expertise. The exception was Sydney where a large area was contracted out and built expensively.

“What's really worrying is that this must happen all the time. We only know the Building the Education projects because records were made public. We don’t know about other projects in which NSW and Victoria are getting bad value for money because they have lost their expertise,” Mr Roxburgh said.

Published in today's Sydney Morning Herald


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About those cuts, Ms Wong. Money is fungible

Finance minister Penny Wong says she’ll take an extra half a billion dollars from the public service without touching jobs, but experts don’t believe her.

Unveiling an instruction to agencies to give up an extra $550 million over four years on top of this year’s special 4 per cent efficiency dividend Senator Wong said it had to be done through non-staffing efficiencies.

“Labor targets efficiencies, the Coalition slashes jobs,” she said outside a public administration conference in Canberra.

The required savings include $30 million per year in air travel, $60 million in the use of consultants, $6 million by publishing documents online instead of in print, and $2 million by moving job advertisements online.

But the earlier 4 per cent efficiency dividend announced by Senator Wong in November already required the public service to cut things such as travel, advertising, printing and consultants before touching staff.

“The departmental budget is just one big budget, it's not as though there are separate paper clips or travel or whatever,” said Stephen Bartos, a former finance department deputy secretary.

“Public servants have already been cutting departmental expenses before cutting staff as required. They’ve already done it, they have met the new requirement. That means the extra cuts they now have to make to meet the new target could well involve jobs.”

“Unless the government is going to turn its back on the last 30 years of public sector devolution and have ministers now micromanage how departmental budgets operate, she cannot guarantee this move won’t cost jobs,” said Mr Bartos who is now an executive director of ACIL Tasman...

Former public service commissioner Andrew Podger now with the Australian National University said there was “no way” there could be another cut in departmental budgets without having an impact on public servants.

“It is wrong to imply you can cut public service spending without cutting the services provided,” said Professor Podger. “But all around the country that’s what everyone is saying.”

“The levels of cuts they are trying to make cannot be just efficiencies, they will have to reprioritise services to the public. There is nothing wrong with reprioritisating services so long as ministers stand up and take responsibility for it. That’s what we pay them for. Instead they are making the public service make the decisions about which services to cut and which to wind back.”

Senator Wong said the government had made it priorities clear. “This is a government which has increased its expenditure on education – almost doubled school funding – and I think that shows Labor priorities,” she said.

The defence department will not have to make the new cuts.

“We recognise defence has been asked - as have, frankly, all departments - to contribute to the fiscal objective,” Senator Wong said. “They are not being asked, like other agencies, to find the additional targeted efficiencies.”

Asked whether she thought the Coalition would be able to meet its aim of boosting defence spending by 3 per cent per year she said she looked forward to hearing it explain how.

The government will unveil extra cuts to get the budget back to surplus in the mid-year budget review due in November.

Published in today's Canberra Times, Sydney Morning Herald and Age


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Announce it, hope for the best. The NBN-style weakness at the heart of Labor decision making

It might be popular now, but Labor’s $36 billion National Broadband Network is shaping up to be a financial disaster that will set back Labor’s image decades rebranding it the party of waste and extravagance.

That’s the view of Percy Allan, president of the Australian Institute of Public Administration and a former head of the NSW Treasury under premiers Wran, Greiner and Fahey.

Releasing a report card on “Public Policy Drift” he told the Herald that while Kevin Rudd came to office in 2007 promising “evidence-based” decision-making, he never spelled out what the term meant.

“True evidence-based decision making requires consultation. Kevin’s style was to lock himself in a cave and put in all the evidence and then emerge as Moses from the mountain with the tablets to tell the people what they would get.”

The NBN is a case in point.

“It would have been quite possible to say ahead of the election ‘we are going to ensure everybody can have an opportunity to be hooked up to the internet at good speeds, and when we get into power we are going to put out a green paper on the options for doing that and we are going to get feedback and make a choice.”

“That choice might be to spend $36 billion ripping out copper wire and disconnection Foxtel cables and starting afresh, which is the proposition we are facing... But had they examined the need, examined options and consulted they might have discovered cheaper ways to fill the need.”

“If a lower than expected proportion of people end up subscribing to it because they don’t want to pay Rolls Royce prices for a Rolls Royce service this thing is going to be a financial disaster - watch public opinion then.”

From opposition Labor would be tarred as a party of waste.

“It already has an image problem from the Whitlam years. If this thing goes under, the Liberal National party will be able to say here’s just another example of waste and extravagance by Labor, the Labor brand.”

“It may not take that long to backfire. When ten per cent of it is rolled out we will have a good idea of the take-up rate.”

The Institute asked management consultants Howard Partners to examine 18 high-profile Commonwealth projects for the quality of decision making making that brought them about. If finds 10 deficient - the alcopops tax, Building the Education Revolution, the NBN, the Darwin to Alice Springs railway, FuelWatch, the green car innovation fund, the green loans program, the home insulation scheme, Grocery Watch and the set top boxes for pensioners program.

Passing the test were the national disability insurance scheme, the minerals resource rent tax, and the emissions trading scheme.

The Institute wants all projects worth more than $100 million be subject to a ten-step process for establishing a business case.

Instead Mr Allan says politicians like to “decide things things in secrecy, call a dramatic press conference, get the front page splash and have people say - boy they’re smart, they got that right.”

“We find out later they haven’t got it right,” he adds.

In today's Canberra Times, Sydney Morning Herald and Age


Ten Criteria for a Public Policy Business Case

1. Establish Need: Identify a demonstrable need for the policy, based on hard
evidence and consultation with all the stakeholders involved, particularly
interest groups who will be affected. (‘Hard evidence’ in this context means
both quantifying tangible and intangible knowledge, for instance the actual
condition of a road as well as people’s view of that condition so as to identify
any perception gaps).

2. Set Objectives: Outline the public interest parameters of the proposed policy
and clearly establish its objectives. For example interpreting public interest as
‘the greatest good for the greatest number’ or ‘helping those who can’t help
themselves’.

3. Identify Options: Identify alternative approaches to the design of the policy,
preferably with international comparisons where feasible. Engage in realistic
costings of key alternative approaches.

4. Consider Mechanisms: Consider implementation choices along a full spectrum
from incentives to coercion.

5. Brainstorm Alternatives: Consider the pros and cons of each option and
mechanism. Subject all key alternatives to a rigorous cost-benefit analysis. For
major policy initiatives (over $100 million), require a Productivity Commission
analysis.

6. Design Pathway: Develop a complete policy design framework including
principles, goals, delivery mechanisms, program or project management
structure, the implementation process and phases, performance measures,
ongoing evaluation mechanisms and reporting requirements, oversight and
audit arrangements, and a review process ideally with a sunset clause.

7. Consult Further: Undertake further consultation with key affected stakeholders
of the policy initiative.

8. Publish Proposals: Produce a Green and then a White paper for public
feedback and final consultation purposes and to explain complex issues and
processes.

9. Introduce Legislation: Develop legislation and allow for comprehensive
parliamentary debate especially in committee, and also intergovernmental
discussion where necessary.

10. Communicate Decision: Design and implement a clear, simple, and
inexpensive communication strategy


Fail

• Building the Education Revolution
• NBN - National Broadband Network
• Darwin to Alice Springs Railway
• FuelWatch
• Green Car Innovation Fund
• Green Loans Program
• Home Insulation
• Grocery Watch
• Set Top Boxes for pensioners

Pass

• Higher Education – Transforming Australia’s Higher Education System
• Innovation – Powering Ideas: An Innovation Agenda for the 21st Century
• Environment – Caring for our Country
• Taxation – The Resources Super Profits Tax
• Water – The Murray Darling Basin Plan
• Energy – Emissions Trading and Carbon Tax
• Disability – National Disability Strategy 2010-2020
• Regional Development – Regional Development Australia



IPAA Policy Paper - Public Policy



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Monday reading - the tragedy of the Commonwealth public service

Some of our public service is great, top notch. But much of it...

Russell Hill's war on accountability

Markus Mannheim
Canberra Times
Saturday March 17, 2012

I don't know retired major-general John Cantwell; I've neither met him nor heard any notable anecdotes about him, other than that he enjoys motorbikes and plonk. But I suspect he's a pretty funny bloke. He let rip last weekend against two of the defence ministers he served: Joel Fitzgibbon (''an auto-electrician in a suit'') and Stephen Smith (''had no respect for those who chose to serve in uniform for their country''). In doing so, he unleashed a storm that still threatens Smith's career. Yet I'm convinced it's all part of an elaborate joke on Cantwell's part.

The giveaway is that he criticised Fitzgibbon for failing to understand the Defence white paper (Cantwell said he had to re-explain to the minister what ''had already been simplified to the point of banality''). Fancy that: a member of the defence establishment lecturing on the merits on plain English. The hilarity here is that Cantwell is talking about a report, co-written by a massive team over several years, whose meaning remains a mystery to the defence forces themselves. Just ask the three services, each of which has an entirely different understanding of the white paper's priorities.

But comprehension is an optional extra in Russell, and long has been. The military's pay manual (which, like everything else, is referred to unnecessarily by its acronym, PACMAN) has more than 2000 pages, and comes with an extra ''administration and technical explanation'' of more than 500 pages. No one really understands it, which no doubt explains the military's constant pay cock-ups.

Then there was last year's Black review of defence accountability. Among its advice was this beauty: ''Defence can improve its capability outcomes by progressively tightening the boundary conditions around the capability development process, improving top-down incentives for better capability delivery in an environment of capped budgets and extension of the current use of integrated project teams … across the end-to-end capability development process.'' And that gobbledygook was the summarised version. An organisation concerned about accountability would have hurled the report back at the consultant and refused to pay for it until it was at least vaguely intelligible. Instead, Defence is now busily ''implementing'' this nonsense. And because no one can grasp its meaning, no one will be able to accuse the department of failing to ''action'' it.

A senior public servant once described Russell to me as ''a decades-long meeting that hasn't ended, because they're still working on the agenda''...

Read on...

Fear & Loathing In The Public Service
Martin McKenzie-Murray
Feeding the Chooks
March 16, 2012

In my mind, Australia produces far too many mid-level managers—too few people capable of producing anything but petty fiefdoms built with bloody-mindedness and banality. They are not our future leaders, investors, novelists, architects because of idiocy and inanity; sloth and a diseased imagination. But they flourish because the public service naturally rewards pedantry and a waning sense of dignity.

What happens is a self-generating vortex of spin and bromides because the culture of the public service—petty territorialism and covering your arse—means the best gatekeepers are those with the least amount of imagination.

Experience—even an interest in—media and politics is unnecessary. It means that the professional touchstone is caution, not excellence, making it the perfect province for the inane. The mantra becomes “Don’t worry about the outcome, worry about the process” as so the word “process” comes to have an eerie, cultish quality because it’s the fig-leaf which covers the rank inadequacy of so many.

Watching Bob Carr’s first press conference something stirred in me which must have been similar to the pleasant shock of recognition Argos had of his old master and chum Odysseus upon his return. “Ahhh, who is this?” I thought. “A politician speaking with warmth and wit; clarity and comfort.” Laura Tingle tweeted from the presser “I’ve worked out what feels so weird… a minister (almost) who isn’t talking in spin speak”. Mr Carr will considerably raise the communicative standard.

And that’s the point: the bully pulpit is powerful—use it. The influence of a talented, passionate, articulate Minister trumps so much of the dross pumped out from the bowels of departments. And it’s cost effective, for chrissakes. Millions of dollars are spent on the salaries of communications people with no discernible talent, influence or professional worth. It’s a fact. More money is spent on people who literally have nothing to do.

The so-called “efficiency dividend” announced last year caused some consternation in Canberra—the cutting of 1.5% of spending on Federal jobs and services. In truth, the cut could be much larger—but the scalpel taken directly to the communications areas, rather than across the board. See, the cuts weren’t as discriminating as they should have been.

In Senate Estimates a few weeks back, the National Library, National Gallery and the National Film and Sound Archive detailed the losses they’d experienced because of the cuts: reduced retrospective cataloguing, reduced services, reduced staff, reduced public events and an increase in charges for those borrowing between libraries. Similar attrition was felt by the other two organisations.

Let’s move—sensibly—towards surplus. Let’s not, in the memorable words of Doug Cameron, “fetishise” it. But if we want to rush towards surplus, increase the efficiency dividend. Halve the budget of communications teams or, better yet, don’t rely on them. You can do so with absolute assurance that the public good will not be damaged. What’s more, you might be preserving the opportunity for Australians to view the works of people who actually produce things.

Read the full thing...

I hope you enjoyed.


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"Suffice it to say, the Minister was not well served by his department" - Our mismanaged crisis

We got the big decisions right. But the small ones...

Extracts from the Auditor General's excoriating findings about Rudd's Green Loans scheme:

"22. The primary cause for the administration problems encountered by the program was, to a very large extent, an absence of effective governance by the Department of Environment (DEWHA) during the program’s design and early implementation. DEWHA had no previous experience in designing and delivering a program with features similar to the Green Loans program. As a multi-faceted ‘greenfields’ program with a fixed budget and variable (and untested) demand, the Green Loans program required greater oversight than the department’s business-as-usual activities. However, this did not occur.

23. From the start of the program, DEWHA assigned day-to-day program management responsibility to sub-executive level officers who had little program delivery experience. As such, program management was devolved to too low a level within DEWHA without sufficient active engagement by executive management. A steering committee was established in November 2008 to oversee the program in response to departmental concerns about the appropriateness of the procurement practices being applied... The committee became inactive at the time the Green Loans program was launched, and was not replaced.

24. The program’s visibility to DEWHA’s senior executives was poor. This was not aided by quarterly status reports providing a false sense of assurance that the program was being managed within an agreed planning framework. In addition, the former Minister received incomplete, inaccurate and untimely briefings on program design features and implementation progress, challenges and risks. Suffice it to say here, the former Minister was not well served by his department in this respect during the period from July 2008 to late 2009 due to the poor quality briefings he received.

25. Key program management plans, including in relation to risk management, procurement, IT and communications, were never finalised and endorsed by executive management. Subsequently, DEWHA encountered difficulties in all these areas. In addition, in the first 18 months of the program there was no accurate costing of the program or monitoring of its budget. An examination of the program’s budget in early 2010 led to the realisation that the program had exceeded its 2009–10 program budget and would require an additional $100 million to fully fund the Government’s policy commitments over the program’s life...

30. Given the considerable volume of transactions for assessments, loans and payments that would be undertaken under the program, appropriate IT support systems were critical to the effective management of the program. However, e-Gateway was procured too late to allow for its smooth introduction from the launch of the program. Consequently, DEWHA had to hastily establish temporary support systems (many of which are now permanent), which required greater manual processing, introduced greater room for error and came at considerable cost...

The unanticipated demand for assessments overwhelmed the temporary support systems in late 2009 and early 2010 leading to the delays experienced by assessors and householders. Alternative workarounds put in place to reduce pressure on the contact centre, did not have the desired impact and created booking backlogs and significant data integrity issues, some of which are yet to be fully resolved. Further, prepayment checks of assessor invoices have either not been completed or sufficiently documented to demonstrate that only valid invoices have been paid. DCCEE is currently undertaking data cleansing and payment reconciliation projects to identify and correct data errors, and has advised that paid invoices that do not meet program requirements will be referred to its compliance area for possible recovery action."

Read the full horrific Audit Office report.

It's making me think Godwin Grech was right.

Here's what Godwin said to an earlier audit inquiry.

"When I returned to Treasury in September 2008, just as the Global Financial Crisis got into full swing, it soon became clear that Treasury officers were being asked to prepare policy option papers on highly complex and economically significant issues at a speed that was, in my view, dangerous.

Policy papers would be commissioned in the morning, usually after a meeting or discussion between the Prime Minister, Treasurer, Dr Henry and a few others, and would then be considered by much the same group either later that day or the following day, with decisions often being taken on measures involving billions in actual expenditure or in contingent liabilities.

There was little, if any testing of alternative options, with often only rubbery estimates or forecasts prepared to support possible approaches.

The normal policy development disciplines had broken down, with many policy options, certainly those that I had exposure to, being developed without any real opportunity by the Department of Finance and Deregulation to undertake proper costings, if at all. Relevant portfolio departments were either not involved in the policy development process or were given very limited information or opportunity to contribute.

The OzCar SPV was developed in this environment. As I was very uncomfortable preparing policy papers which contained options that had not been properly costed and which I could not be sure would even be viable, I began to rely on a small network of 2 or 3 highly experienced former Treasury officers who I had known for the best part of 20 years and who had genuine policy expertise in the areas that I lacked. This was especially in costings and fiscal implications of options, as well as to the political viability of possible approaches.

I saw little point in putting up a policy option to the Prime Minister and the Treasurer if it could not ‘fly’ politically – even if the numbers seemed broadly accurate. I would therefore ‘roadtest’ a few ideas and options with my small trusted network so that the risks of developing half baked policy options involving contingent liabilities of $2 billion or more was reduced.

Although this may not have been consistent with normal practice, the operating environment was hardly normal. It was in many respects chaotic and dysfunctional and suffering from the stress of overload.

By comparison the much-criticised BER was exceptionately well managed.


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Swan, Gillard in the dark... from 6.00 pm

From the moment government enters caretaker mode at 6.00 pm eastern time today our economic landscape will be beyond the power of politicians to influence.

The Reserve Bank board will consider interest rates two weeks from tomorrow with Treasury Secretary Ken Henry in attendance. But in a reversal of the usual procedure Dr Henry will nether discuss the decision with his Treasurer nor seek the Mr Swan's view as to how he should vote.

Wayne Swan will watch helpless as the Bank reacts to consumer price figures out Wednesday week about which he will be uncommonly uninformed. Normally Treasury staff are locked up with the figures until their release at 11.30 am in order to give Wayne Swan an instant briefing, making him seem about the best-informed person in the land. Not this time. And the figures will matter...

The Reserve Bank this month placed Australia on notice that if the so-called underlying measure of inflation is once again above 3 per cent on it will consider pushing up rates on August 3. The Bank's target is for a rate between 2 and 3 per cent on average over the cycle. It's been above 3 per cent for three years now and the Bank's getting toey.

The Bank board would push up rates without compunction if it thought it was needed and thought the economy could stand it. It put that beyond doubt in the last election when it pushed them up during the caretaker period days before the vote rendering the Prime Minister's promises about rates meaningless.

A hike in the cash rate from 4.5 to 4.75 per cent Tuesday fortnight would add a further $48 to the monthly cost of servicing a $300,000 mortgage and $64 to the cost of repaying a $400,000 mortgage within weeks of the vote, lending apparent weight to Tony Abbott's complaints about mortgage rates and prices.

From Tuesday the newly independent departments of Treasury and Finance will be available to the opposition as well as the government to cost promises, but the deal isn't as good as it seems. Every request for a costing has to go through the Prime Minister. Tony Abbott might attempt to get around this by submitting his requests late. It's what Kevin Rudd did last time.

Published in today's SMH and Age

How it will work:

ABS embargo rules

Charter of Budget Honesty

Charter of Budget Honesty: Pre election Provisions

2010 Costing of Election Commitments Guidelines

Election costings website

Related Posts

. Lock August 3 in your diary, it's the most likely date for a pre-election hike

. Why Swan told all, again, just two months after the Budget

. Henry sidelined?

Read more >>

Meanwhile, if you took Abbott at his word...

The spending cuts proposed by the Coalition in its reply to the budget pose a risk to the management of the economy and could endanger the working of the public service according to the head of the Department of Finance.

Appearing before a Senate estimates committee Department head David Tune was asked about the effect of a two-year freeze on public service recruitment along the lines proposed by the Opposition.

"It would have a major effect," he said. "There would be a reduced role in terms of advising government on its budget, there would be a reduced level of service to parliament and our
capacity to project manage construction would be affected."

The Finance Department loses 11 per cent of its employees each year... and relies on graduates to "renew our thinking and keep us rejuvenating".

"While the effect would not necessarily be immediate in year one or year two, losing an entire cadre of graduates would effect down the track," he said.

The department would give the highest priority to complying with its legal obligations , but would face problems if it was unable to replace senior economists and accountants as they left and may have to adopt lower service standards, something that would be "regrettable".

A related Coalition's proposal to cut a further $350 million cut in travel spending on top of cuts just negotiated would cause problems as those contracts can not yet be reopened.

The only way to do it would be to cut the number of flights 17 per cent, most probably "rationing" department by department.

Mr Tune said the department had been given just one week to cost the Building the Education Revolution school stimulus program.

It arrived at the costing in an "unscientific" way but would probably not have reached a different conclusion if it had had longer.


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Read more >>

Wednesday Column: Who would have thought? It's all up to Hockey.

Could the dog have eaten his homework too?

There's a terrific story in biographies of Neville Wran. The centrepiece of the campaign that swept him to power in NSW was transport.

There was only one problem the day before the launch of his transport policy - he didn't have one.

He grabbed David Hill, a young economics tutor he had only just met, put him in a room with his Transport spokesman and they worked through the night to come up with the policy hours before it was launched to acclaim on a Tuesday morning.

Its Wednesday morning and the Coalition had better hope Joe Hockey has been working nights.

Last Thursday in one of the oddest Budget reply speeches in memory Australia's Opposition Leader played for more time.

Given a good TV slot and months if not years to come up with a economic program of his own Tony Abbott delivered what was perhaps the ultimate "dog ate my homework" line.

Here's what he said... "Next Wednesday at the National Press Club, Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey will announce further measures to reduce spending and to increase productivity including a detailed response to the new spending and new savings proposals in the budget."

I'll be there. I hope it won't sound as if it's been thrown together.

Because the rest of the Coalition program outlined by Tony Abbott last Thursday night sounded scandalously thrown together.

"Smaller government," Abbott told us "in our DNA".

Ignoring for the moment the way the Coalition actually behaved during its final seven years in office, allowing the pubic service excluding Defence, ASIO and the police to swell 25 per cent, lets look at how Abbott proposes to bring about smaller government.

Rather than examine what's needed function by function and axe what's not needed the Coalition will "introduce a two year recruitment freeze to reduce public servant numbers through natural attrition".

If letting the public service explode 25 per cent (44 per cent for senior public servants, 30 per cent for ministerial staff) at was careless, this is worse.

As Abbott explains, "there will be no redundancies, but for two years 6000 bureaucrats who retire or resign each year will not be replaced".

He surely wouldn't manage a company that way. Think about a mining company, on in which the geologists resign or retire early because they can get better jobs elsewhere, leaving behind other less-useful staff in, say, public relations. Abbott appears to be saying he wouldn't hire replacement geologists for two years.

By then he wouldn't have a company.

As a government minister the consequences would be less obvious but potentially worse.

Abbott was minister for health. If he let go of his influenza specialists, because for instance they received better offers from the pharmaceutical industry, the consequences of getting bad or late advice in that area could be catastrophic.

Abbott would know this. He served Australia with distinction during the 2005 bird flu scare.

Shutting the public service to new entrants for two years would create broader problems.

An entire cohort of bright young economists would become unavailable to the Treasury, a constraint that would become accute if the private sector snafled its best macroeconomists.

Graduates who had enrolled in university in good faith would have to put their careers on hold and might find themselves unable to compete with new graduates when the freeze was lifted.

And public service numbers wouldn't be cut by anthing like the 6000 per year Abbott expects. As soon as the freeze took hold resignations would slow to a tricke. It's what always happens during hiring freezes. Workers with low prospects won't risk leaving if they know they can't get back.

The public service would seize up and the expected savings wouldn't come.

None of this is saying the public service shouldn't be cut. It is overdue for a cut, but it is best done intelligently by working out what the government wants to keep rather than in a "lazy way" as Abbott terms it in another part of his speech.

The pledge to cut government advertising by 25 per cent, coming from a man who served in a governement that filled our screens nightly is not credible.

And nor is the most specific promise in a budget reply speech generally free of them - rollback, Abbott's promise that the Coalition "will oppose the mining tax in opposition and we will rescind it in government".

That's right, the Coalition will not only oppose the mining tax ahead of its implementation but will roll it back afterwards.

The ongoing uncertainty this would add to mining investment decisions on top of that that's there now has the potential to do the industry real harm - if the industry took it seriously.

The tax treatment of mining is not only a 40 per cent super tax on profits, its also a 40 per cent government contribution to the cost of achieving those profits.

Rolling that back, unscrambling the egg, would be about as unlikely and damaging as would have been Labor's Kim Beasley coming good on his promise to "roll back" the GST.

Abbott could have outline serious policies last Thursday. He passed up the chance.

Today it's up to Hockey.

Let's hope he has come up with good ones.


Published in today's SMH and Age


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The top echelon of the public service has been rearranged!

From the PM:

"DEPARTMENTAL SECRETARIES AND STATUTORY OFFICE-HOLDERS

I am pleased to announce new arrangements for departmental secretaries and senior statutory office-holders which will take effect in the near future.

Ms Helen Williams AO, Secretary of the Department of Human Services, has indicated to me that she intends to retire from the Australian Public Service (APS). Ms Williams was the first woman appointed as Secretary of an Australian Government department. While she has held her current position since May 2007, she has been a Secretary or Secretary equivalent for over 20 years in such diverse portfolios as Communications and the Arts, Immigration, Prime Minister and Cabinet, Tourism, Transport and Education. She was Public Service Commissioner from 1998 to early 2002. Ms Williams rightly has a reputation as a highly committed and professional public servant who has made a significant contribution to public service in Australia. I am pleased that Ms Williams has indicated her willingness to accept part-time Government positions in the future. I pay tribute to her dedicated service and wish her well.

The position of Secretary of the Department of Human Services will be filled by Mr Finn Pratt PSM. Mr Pratt is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Centrelink and before that was an Associate Secretary in the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. He has spent much of his career in labour market related activity and has a strong understanding of the link between policy and delivery. This experience, coupled with his expertise in leading a major service delivery agency, will be invaluable in his new role. Centrelink’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Customer Service, Ms Carolyn Hogg, will act as Chief Executive Officer pending the appointment of Mr Pratt’s successor.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon Stephen Smith MP, will recommend to the Governor-General the appointment of Mr Nick Warner PSM as Director-General of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS). Mr Warner will leave his current position as Secretary of the Department of Defence. Mr Warner’s accomplishments during his time at Defence are significant and include the production of the recent Defence White Paper and accompanying force structure, a $20 billion savings program and a wide-ranging reform program. Prior to being appointed as Secretary of Defence, Mr Warner held a number of senior positions in Australia and overseas, including Special Coordinator of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands. He brings a wealth of knowledge to the position of Director-General at a time when the Government is faced with a growing need for timely and accurate intelligence. I am confident that Mr Warner’s depth of experience will serve the Government well, not only in his role as Director-General of ASIS, but in other international roles as required by the Government from time to time.

Dr Ian Watt AO, currently the Secretary of the Department of Finance and Deregulation, will become the Secretary of the Department of Defence. Dr Watt was first appointed as a Secretary in 2001 in the Communications portfolio and moved to the Finance Department early in 2002. Since that time he has overseen a significant strengthening of the department’s capacity to support government, particularly in the preparation of the Budget. Dr Watt’s experience and achievements will see him well placed to tackle the challenges of his new role.

Mr David Tune PSM will become the Secretary of the Department of Finance and Deregulation. Mr Tune has worked in the APS for around 30 years and is currently an Associate Secretary in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet with responsibility for the Domestic Policy Group. Mr Tune has previously held a number of senior positions in both central and line agencies with a social policy focus and brings extensive public sector experience and expertise to his new position...

The Treasurer, the Hon Wayne Swan MP, will recommend to the Governor-General the appointment of Ms Patricia Scott as a full time Commissioner in the Productivity Commission. Ms Scott will bring extensive experience in human services to the Commission, and her appointment will enhance the Commission’s capacity to advise the Government on ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of human services provision. In addition to her extensive policy experience in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, she was instrumental in the successful establishment of the Department of Human Services following her appointment as the first Secretary of that department in October 2004. Ms Scott has also acquired services related experience in her more recent role as Secretary of the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.

The new program of Productivity Commission work on human services will draw on COAG initiated research by the Productivity Commission demonstrating the significant potential benefits to the community of investment in education, health and related human services, while acknowledging the heightened need for cost-effective spending by all governments in the years ahead. It is envisaged that a series of projects spanning the life cycle of human services will be developed. With the imperatives of an ageing population, particular attention will focus on human services that promote participation and productivity of the labour force. The Government will also shortly provide a reference to the Productivity Commission to hold a public inquiry into aged care in Australia. This inquiry will examine the needs of Australia’s aged persons for the next 20 years and look at appropriate standards and funding arrangements to secure the best outcomes from aged care services. The Commission’s report will help the Government assess options for further advancing the long term agenda in human service areas vital to community wellbeing.

Mr Peter Harris will become the Secretary of the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. Mr Harris is currently the Secretary of the Victorian Department of Sustainability and the Environment where he is responsible for Victoria’s largest current public infrastructure project. He has extensive public policy experience, having held several executive Commonwealth roles including Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of Transport and Regional Services. Mr Harris has the requisite experience and skills to lead his new department in its dealings with complex policy issues, such as telecommunications reform, vital to Australia’s long-term national interest.

Mr Michael L’Estrange AO will be leaving the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade after more than four and a half years as Secretary of the Department. During this period Mr L’Estrange has led the department with distinction under successive Governments. His leadership has guided the department through a period of significant complexity across Australia’s trade and foreign policy agenda, including in the areas of regional and global engagement, trade negotiations and consular crisis response. The Government wishes to retain Mr L’Estrange in another senior position. Discussions with Mr L’Estrange about this senior position in government to which he may wish to accept appointment are proceeding.

Mr Dennis Richardson AO will become the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Currently Australia’s Ambassador to the United States, he has a public service career spanning forty years. Prior to his appointment as Ambassador he held the position of Director-General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation for almost nine years. He has served in various senior public service roles in the Departments of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Foreign Affairs and Trade and Immigration. His depth of foreign policy experience, and understanding of international relations, will serve him well in his new appointment. The Government will announce in due course the appointment of a new Ambassador to the United States.

Mr Andrew Metcalfe has been reappointed as Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. I appreciate Mr Metcalfe’s continuing contribution in this important role.

The Public Service Commissioner, Ms Lynelle Briggs, will be appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Medicare Australia. Ms Briggs, who was a Deputy Secretary in the then Department of Transport and Regional Services prior to her appointment as Commissioner, has been a passionate advocate for the public service and has championed the role of the APS in a modern democracy. I am grateful for her contribution. I am considering who will be appointed as Public Service Commissioner. In the meantime, the Deputy Public Service Commissioner, Ms Carmel McGregor, will act as Public Service Commissioner.

Ms Philippa Godwin will take up the position of Head of the Child Support Agency at the Department of Human Services, as Deputy Secretary, Child Support and Planning. Ms Godwin brings significant service delivery and policy experience to her new role. She has been Acting Chief Executive Officer at Medicare Australia since November 2008, having joined that agency as Deputy Chief Executive Officer in August 2005. Prior to taking up her appointment at Medicare Australia, Ms Godwin was a Deputy Secretary at the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs from 2002 to 2005, having commenced with that department in 1989. She also has extensive experience at the regional and State office level in Commonwealth and State Government departments.

In line with our election commitment, all appointments will be for a period of five years.

DEPARTMENTAL APPOINTMENTS

As a result of the Prime Minister’s recent announcement of appointments of Portfolio Secretaries and other senior roles, the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet announces several moves within senior ranks of the public service.

Dr Paul Grimes will take up the position of Associate Secretary, Domestic Policy Group in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, succeeding Mr David Tune who has been appointed Secretary, Department of Finance and Deregulation. Dr Grimes has been Deputy Secretary of the Department of Finance and Deregulation’s Budget Group since January 2007. He was previously Chief Executive of the ACT Department of Treasury and, earlier, Deputy Under Treasurer in the South Australian Department of Treasury and Finance. Dr Grimes has also held senior positions in the Department of Treasury. Dr Grimes holds a PhD in Economics from the Australian National University and is a graduate of the Flinders University of South Australia.

Ms Glenys Beauchamp will take up the position of Deputy Secretary, Governance in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. The role has been filled in an acting capacity by Mr Paul Tilley then Ms Liza Carroll following Mr Mike Mrdak’s appointment as Co-ordinator-General and then as Secretary of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. Ms Beauchamp has been Deputy Secretary in the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs since December 2005, in which time she has overseen development of the Government’s paid parental leave scheme, the Commonwealth’s input to assist the Victorian Government with the recovery process following the Victorian bushfires and the national framework for protecting children. Prior to joining FAHCSIA, Ms Beauchamp held senior positions in the ACT public service, including as Deputy Chief Executive of the Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services and Executive Director with the ACT Department of Health. In addition to an economics degree from the Australian National University, she has an MBA from the University of Canberra.

Ms Jennie Granger has recently commenced in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet as Deputy Secretary, Office of the Co-ordinator General, on secondment from her role as Second Commissioner of Taxation. Ms Granger has extensive experience in implementation and service delivery from her distinguished career in the Australian Taxation Office, which will be invaluable in her role of oversight of implementation by the States and Territories of the Government’s nation building package.

Ms Philippa Lynch has been appointed First Assistant Secretary, Government Division in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. She has been a First Assistant Secretary in the Attorney-General’s Department since 2002, and has previously worked in Government Division (as Assistant Secretary of the then Legal and Culture Branch). She will commence at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet on 17 August 2009.

Mr Patrick Suckling has been appointed First Assistant Secretary, International Division in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Mr Suckling has been acting in this position since March 2009. He joined the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet as Assistant Secretary, Pacific, Middle East and Rest of World Branch in August 2008. Mr Suckling has extensive international experience, having commenced as an officer of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 1994. He has served with distinction at Australia’s Embassies in New Delhi and Washington, holds a Masters Degree in International Relations from Monash University, and is a graduate of the University of Sydney.

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Who'd live in NSW?

Alexandra Smith in today's Sydney Morning Herald:

"In 1998 the lid was lifted on the corrupt world of NSW railways, revealing that supplying prostitutes could win you a contract, fake medical certificates signed by a dead doctor would get you a day off work, and you could claim overtime while playing golf.

Ten years later it seems little has changed in RailCorp and the stench of corruption is slowly engulfing the NSW public sector.

In past 12 months the Independent Commission Against Corruption has held inquiries into three State Government agencies - the Roads and Traffic Authority, RailCorp and the Department of Housing; the NSW Fire Brigades has joined the list this week."

Read it and be glad if you live outside of the Rum Corp state.

UPDATE: Police and the state of NSW, by former NSW Auditor General Tony Harris

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Rudd never promised us a rose garden

"I beg your pardon I never promised you a rose garden, Along with the sunshine there's gotta be a little rain sometime.."

Someone thinks that song is about Rudd.

At the Press Gallery Midwinter Ball on Wednesday night it was chosen to introduce the Prime Minister, who then gave a wonderfully funny well-judged self-deprecating speech.

In today's Australian, John Lyons sheds light on why:

"The two words most commonly used about Rudd's office are chaotic and dysfunctional. One only need drop by to have that confirmed. "

Here's the full thing and the accompanying story.

Lyons wrote about Hawke's office years earlier.

I can say that I know of nothing that suggests Lyons is wrong, and several things that confirm what he is saying.

I'll also say that Rudd is a clever man, more than capable of getting everything working smoothly. I am sure that he will, in plenty of time.

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Australia appoints its first woman Governor General

The Queen has done it actually. Kevin Rudd and her stitched it up in talks in London. The new GG, Quentin Bryce, will take over in September.

She is the current Governor of Queensland, and has been much more besides. In her words:

“It’s a great honour and a great responsibility, and it’s a great day for Australian woman.

I grew up in a little bush town in Queensland of 200 people and what this day says to Australian women and Australian girls is that you can do anything, you can be anything, and it makes my heart sing to see women in so many diverse roles across our country in Australia"...



Australia’s 25th Governor General will be a woman - the present Queensland Governor Quentin Bryce – ending 107 years of tradition.

Announcing the appointment within hours of returning to Canberra from an 18-day tour that included talks with The Queen at Windsor Castle the Prime Minister said that she had accepted his recommendation that a woman represent her in Australia for the first time.

“It has taken 107 years. It is good that it’s happened,” Mr Rudd said.

Quentin Bryce has been a lawyer, an academic, the Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner and the founding chair of the National Childcare Accreditation Council. Born near Longreach in Queensland she has been Queensland’s Governor since 2003.

Asked if he had appointed her because she was, like him a Queenslander, the Prime Minister replied that he didn’t actually know Ms Bryce well.

“I think it’s important that we have as Governor-General of Australia someone who has strong commitments to the nation, the community, the fact that Ms Bryce has such a strong commitment to rural and regional Australia, a strong commitment to the rights of women, a strong commitment to Indigenous Australia, and brings with her great experience both as a lawyer, a legal academic and as the current Governor of Queensland. She brings great experience to this.

The Governor of Queensland since 2003, Ms Bryce said yesterday that appointment was “a great honour and a great responsibility”

It was also “ a great day for Australian woman”.

“I grew up in a little bush town in Queensland of 200 people and what this day says to Australian women and Australian girls is that you can do anything, you can be anything, and it makes my heart sing to see women in so many diverse roles across our country in Australia,” she said.

The 65-year old is married Michael Bryce, the graphic designer who created one of Australia’s most successful logos – the Opera House shaped squiggle that helped Sydney win its Olympic 2000 bid. They have two daughters, three sons and five grandchildren.

The current Governor-General Major General Michael Jeffery welcomed the appointment, saying it was a singular honour to serve the Australian people in that role.

He and his wife Marlena will continue to occupy Government House until Ms Bryce takes office on September 5. The Prime Minister said Major General Jeffery had served for five years with “great distinction”.

Ms Bryce has been appointed at The Queen’s pleasure, although a five-year term is considered usual.

Asked whether she might be Australia’s last Governor General if Australia became a Republic Mr Rudd said that while his commitment to a Republic remained clear cut, it was not a “top order question” for the Government. “There are many other priorities around”.

Asked how long it would be until Australia went further and appointed its first female Prime Minister, Mr Rudd replied that he thought that would take a little longer and that he liked the present arrangement with himself as Prime Minister and Julia Gillard as his Deputy.

Ms Bryce’s appaointment was welcomed across the political spectrum. The Opposition leader Brendan Nelson said she would serve her country with distinction. Queensland’s Premier Anna Bligh said she would be an outstanding role model.

The ACT’s Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said the appointment as “fantastic, historic and quite thrilling”.

He described Ms Bryce as a friend and said they met when he was chief of staff to then federal Attorney-General Michael Lavarch, and she was the federal sex discrimination commissioner.

”She's tremendous. She's got the common touch and she'll be a real adornment to the office," he said.

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The Commonwealth public service is sexy

It is, actually. And it needs to be.

Bernard Keane, in today's Crikey:

"They stare out from job ads, attractive, elegantly-attired, like no public servant you’ve ever met, inviting you to come and join them in the exciting world of ... auditing. Taxation. Agriculture. Defence procurement. The national papers are full of job ads for public servants, all trying to make their agency sound exciting.

At a time when the Government is refusing to rule out compulsory redundancies in the Commonwealth Public service, most public servants will tell you that the problem isn’t too many of them, but not enough. And not just the empire builders and mandarins-in-training....

As everyone now knows, the Public service exploded under the previous Government. From a nadir in 1999 of just under 120,000 public servants, it has maxed out at about 154,000. The number of Canberra-based public servants has also been growing and is now more than 35% of the entire service.

But there’s a major problem with that. Unemployment in Canberra is currently 2.4%. It’s been below 3.5% for years. That means that public service agencies have to either steal each other's staff, rely on temporary staff, or attract people from interstate.

And attracting people to Canberra has never been harder. While Canberra is the proverbial great place to bring up kids, it has never been able to compete with Sydney and Melbourne. But now Queensland and Western Australia – traditionally a good source for bright young economists and lawyers – are vacuuming up talent in the resources boom. Nor can the Public service match private sector salaries. Indeed, it can’t even match many State public services, particularly at management level, which tend to dominate in Canberra. And that’s before you even get to the emerging effects of the retirement of baby boomers, who form the bulk of the APS’s senior ranks.

Some Departments are suffering more than others, which is why a department like Health and Ageing has been shedding temporary staff in preparation for the budget, but others continue to spend a lot of money on half-page newspaper ads for "multiple positions". The Department of Finance, which is driving the budget cuts, has been significantly understaffed for several years, with virtually permanent job ads in the national press.

Now, there’s been plenty of employers reading this and wondering what’s new. But there are short and longer-term consequences of this for public policy. The new Government, whose Prime Minister wants a lot done and done quickly, is pushing its bureaucrats hard. The reduction in ministerial staff has made matters worse, with inexperienced ministers and their advisers under the pump to implement election commitments and find savings while keeping the Prime Minister happy. In every agency the story is the same – Rudd, via Prime Minister and Cabinet, is demanding inordinate amounts of briefing, often in very short deadlines. The result is under-prepared material and lack of attention to detail.

The longer term consequence, which will need to be considered once the 2008-09 budget is out of the way, is more serious. Government and communities needs high-quality public servants, who take serving them seriously and who have corporate memory, people who remember the stuff-ups of the past and how to avoid repeating them. But last year the proportion of public servants with less than five years’ experience topped 50,000, or a third of the entire service. Those with 5-10 years also continued to climb, to 20%. This will begin to seriously affect the capacity of the public service to serve government effectively.

A recession would help. The quality of talent entering the public service tends to improve significantly when the job queues are long. Without that, or the relocation of the capital to Sydney or Melbourne, Governments will have to make do with a poorer-quality public service stretched thinner than ever.

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Australia's new number one bureaucrat is...

...Terry Moran.

Just in from the PM:

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Terry Moran AO as the new Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Mr Moran will begin his appointment on 3 March 2008.

Mr Moran is currently Secretary of the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet and has led four public sector organisations as CEO over the last 20 years...

In a public service career which began in Canberra in early 1973 as a Commonwealth Public Service Board Administrative Trainee, Mr Moran has worked at the Commonwealth level twice. In all, nearly half his public service career has been at the Commonwealth level.

In Victoria he was CEO of the Victorian State Training Board, later CEO of the Australian National Training Authority and then Director General of Education for Queensland. His leadership roles have involved substantial contributions to public policy, development of major reforms and the management of very large public sector organisations.

More recently, Mr Moran has played a strong role in the emergence of the National Reform Agenda and a succession of plans for the state which provide a strategic framework for all departments and agencies. Within and between Governments he has consistently advocated a new approach to Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments working together to improve the delivery of basic government services for all Australians.

As the senior Victorian public servant Mr Moran has also played a key central role in developing plans to guide the State Government's major infrastructure investments. He and his department are the point for the coordination across Government for Victoria's responses to emergencies, natural disasters and terrorist threats.

As Secretary of DPC, Mr Moran has led the State Coordination and Management Council of Secretaries and fostered strategic improvements in service delivery. At the request of the Premier he carried out a major review of public administration. The Public Administration Act, which established a new governance and improvement framework for the public sector, was the most significant result.

Mr Moran has led the development of a range of significant Arts initiatives in Victoria. He is committed to the central importance of a strong, innovative and diverse cultural sector to Australian life.

In the Victorian context he is seen as a champion of a professional public service devoted to constant improvement in services for the Victorian community. The capacity and skill of the Victorian public service is recognised in Australia and abroad. At a national level he was instrumental in establishing the Australian and New Zealand School of Government. It is a joint initiative of six governments and ten universities and in four years has enrolled over 1,000 public servants in programs designed to prepare them for future leadership roles in public policy and public sector management. In June 2006 Mr Moran was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for service to public sector leadership in key policy areas and program implementation at state and national levels.

Read more >>

And congratulations to Martin Parkinson

Head of Australia's only completely new government department - Climate Change.

The head of Australia’s only completely new government department says it’s a great honour.

But he’s not talking about the Public Service Medal he’ll receive today for his earlier work as Deputy Secretary to the Treasury and head of the secretariat for the Prime Minister’s Task Group on Emissions Trading.

Martin Parkinson is talking about the opportunity to run the new Department of Climate Change set up within the Prime Minister’s portfolio within days of the election.

At the moment he finds it hard to even see the people who are working for him...

“There are about 200 of us spread out across the Prime Minister’s building, the John Gorton building (which houses Environment and Finance), and Foreign Affairs.”

Within weeks he hopes they will all be together in part of what used to be the Tax Office headquarters in Constitution Avenue Civic.

“We are waiting for the office fit out. Accommodation is so tight in Canberra right now that you go into a queue and wait until somebody can actually begin to do the work,” he said yesterday.

The Department of Climate Change has been given until the end of this year to finalise the design of the system of emissions trading that Kevin Rudd has promised to introduce in 2010.

It’s work that Dr Parkinson feels he hasn’t stopped doing since December 2006. That’s when John Howard plucked him from the Deputy Secretary’s position in Treasury and asked him to run the Secretariat for the his Task Group on Emissions Trading, the first sign that the Prime Minister was softening in what been his hard-line opposition to any form of carbon tax.

By the time the Task Group had reported in May his mood and broader public opinion had swung behind a system of emissions trading and he appointed Martin Parkinson to work on implementing the report as head of the Climate Change Group within his Department.

On the election of the Labor government he was made head of the new Department of Climate Change within the Prime Minister’s portfolio and given one of the most impressive of the new ministers, Penny Wong.

Within days he was in Bali with Kevin Rudd, Penny Wong, Peter Garrett and Wayne Swan.

“You couldn’t ask for a better combination of opportunity and support, he said. “Personally it’s a great honour.”

“I think everyone in the Department shares my enthusiasm and excitement for the task ahead. It’s just an incredibly large agenda, absolutely critical. It’s a massive economic and structural reform.”

When asked whether introducing a system of emissions trading would be a bigger reform than the new tax system introduced by the previous government in 2000, Martin Parkinson goes back further.

“I see it as the biggest and most pervasive economic reform since the trade liberalization in the 1980’s.”

“There will inevitably be some adjustment but what we’re really trying to do here is to find a way to transform the economy in a way that is as economically effective - that is to manage the costs and maximize the opportunities for new areas.”

“Think about it. Australia’s got this incredible wealth of natural and human resources that will benefit from a transformation to a low carbon economy while at the same time having this massive wealth of resources and talent that are intertwined with the existing carbon intensity of the economy.”

“The challenge is to manage the transformation to the low carbon economy. Because that’s inevitable. That is going to happen. We have to manage it.”

Dr Parkinson said he expected to put options to the Prime Minister within months.

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