Kevin Rudd and the Australian Public Service

There are a few things I'd like to say about recent developments in the relationship between the PM and the Australian Public Service.  Here's the context of what I'm considering here taken from a "week in review" article  published online last Friday by the ABC -

...

The second leak made public the disquiet in the public service about the Government's - and Mr Rudd's - management style, with complaints bureaucrats are called in at all hours to provide urgent advice which is then ignored, and the Prime Minister's office is chaotic.

Some are sheeting home the blame for the leak to the pressure being placed on the public service.

Mr Rudd says those criticisms have not been made to him, but his response to the suggestion an aggrieved bureaucrat was the leaker is not likely to win him any friends.

"I understand that there has been some criticism around the edges that some public servants are finding the hours a bit much," he told the bureaucracy.

"I suppose I've simply got news for the public service - there'll be more."

First, the leak.  Leaking confidential government information like a cabinet document is possibly one of the dumbest things a public servant can do.  It undermines trust between the Government and the APS.  It may make the Government more inclined to seek its advice elsewhere - "contestability" of advice and services has been a buzzword for several years now, and for good reason.  With the proliferation of thinktanks, policy institutes and cannier and cannier lobbyists the APS has to ensure it retains the ear of government.  It cannot do so if it fails to retain the trust of ministers.

The thing that really pisses me off about leaks though is the attitude that often goes with it.  There are determined little pockets of public sector employees out there who still manage to cling to the idea that they are somehow imbued with a better idea of what the "public interest" is than the government which has been duly elected by the people.  This point of view posits that somehow they know better, even though every few years they don't have to go and face the citizens and seek reelection based on previous performance.  It is, quite simply, arrogance of the highest order and warrants no place in the modern APS environment, and is likely engaged in by those who think that the old tv series Yes, Minister, with its scheming Sir Humphrey Appleby, is a desirable model of the manipulating mandarin.   

Secondly, the leak probably came from some idiot who retains a degree of affection (for wont of a better word) for the previous government.  As Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner recently noted on Sunday morning's Insiders programme, there was no "Night of the Long Knives" for senior public servants upon the ALP's election as there was when Howard came to power in 1996.  There were, certainly, a few people shuffled around (though not, strictly speaking, demoted), but those who were especially close to the former government weren't suddenly pressured to find work elsewhere.  Will be interesting to see what happens now, particularly in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Thirdly, the PM's public statement that if the APS doesn't like the current pace then tough, is essentially a form of dog-whistling politics akin to that employed by our former Prime Minister Mr Howard.  He knows that there's a public perception out in the community that somehow all public servants are shiny-arsed bludgers and that he scores bonus points with the Sunrise-watching crew for giving them a bit of a whack. 

So the politics of it are pretty obvious.  But it ain't the best way of backing those who are backing you.  Why, just a little over a month ago the PM gave a speech to senior APS staff where he acknowledged the pressures he'd put them under -

It’s a credit to the APS that the transition to the new Government has been so seamless.  So let me say on behalf of the whole ministry, we do appreciate the enormous amount of work that has been done to date.  You are public policy professionals.  You have chosen your career because you believe public policy counts.  You have chosen a good career path because it is about the public good.  It is about something bigger than yourselves.

Naturally, the PM's criticisms have gotten a bit of a run in Canberra, with a number of callers to local ABC radio last Friday expressing disappointment in the PM's own ideas about the work/life balance for APS employees.  Which I reckon is fair enough.  This is not to say that the same thing didn't happen under the previous government, that it was all beer and skittles in comparison - a brief word to anyone in a central agency about the Budget process or pre-election work will disabuse you of that notion quite quickly.  There's just a little bit of feeling out there that it's a bit hypocritical.

Just a couple of final points to conclude.  Part of the problem is, I expect, due to inexperienced staff populating the Ministerial offices of Parliament House.  No doubt there are a number of Young Labor apparatchiks who are still finding their way through the corridors and learning how the departments actually work.  Would be interesting to be a departmental liaison officer for one of the key portfolios at this point in time. 

I also believe that this sort of sustained pressure, on everyone, greatly increases the risk of serious mistakes occurring which will then snowball into bigger problems for the government's policy agenda(s).  Better to get it right than to make errors in the name of speed. 

Enough from me for now.  Here are a few links with further opinions and info:

• Professor Anne Tiernan gave an interesting public presentation up at Parliament House last Friday about the transition of the Rudd Labor government into power, particularly regarding the relationship with the APS.  Here's the transcript of her presentation and go here to download an mp3.  She also appeared on ABC's PM programme last Friday evening, here's the story.
• ABC Radio National's Life Matters programme this morning (audio available at the link), which had some local radio excerpts;
• Discussion at the RiotACT where it's been a featured post for the past few days - varied opinions in there, including this shining insight (though it is balanced by a few other more nuanced points of view) -

As a former PS all I can say to the news that the shinybums now have to work is bravo. When I was there in the 1980s and early ’90s all they did was file trivial, petty complaints about me - “he spoke to me with a derogatory tone in his voice”, “he refused to copy my documents” even though they were top secret and I only had confidential clearance. No work to do so they amused themselves by stabbing me in the back. I just hope Kevin grinds them into the ground because they deserve it.

• Another thing mentioned by the Insiders panel was the PM's worth ethic and expectations - see Michelle Grattan's article in The Age about the PM's current workload.