The concerning state of Australia’s public service

Years ago, before I had joined any political party, I wrote to the neoliberal Attorney-General about something. I don’t recall what now, but I had received a reasonable response about the prospect of exporting solar energy from Australia (this was before any projects had been started), and on aid to Yemen. Instead of something reasonable, I got utter rubbish - political talking points - from someone was who was being fêted as an example of women progressing. 

I have had concerns about the public service before - in particular, back in Whitlam’s day their idea of “frank and fearless advice” all coincided with the then Liberal party’s notion of economic management and completely ignored social wellbeing. 

As far as I am concerned, that makes them politically biased, not “frank and fearless”. 

And now we are seeing more signs that subservience and neoliberal hate has infested the Australian Public Service. Example media reports from the RoboDebt Royal Commission include: 

• Email reveals top bureaucrat pressed ombudsman to delete comments questioning robodebt’s legality; 
• Senior public servant under scrutiny at robodebt inquiry appointed head of AUKUS project office; and 
• analysis: The Robodebt royal commission is hearing damning evidence of public sector dysfunction. Now it must probe the question of culture.
  

Is the presumption that a Public Service can be truly apolitical be true when it is taught (on the job training and inculcation, certainly, but also the older hardline economic thinking that used to be taught in Universities - and now restricted to right wingers) to have some values at not others? What about unconscious bias - as evidenced by the many racists decisions the APS and its predecessor organisations have made over the last two and a bit centuries?

Is it time to give up the pretence of impartiality, and start dealing with bias and how it impacts service delivery, professionalism, and the assessment of what is in the public interest?

 

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Finally, remember: we need to be more human being rather than human doing.