|
September 12, 2009
The Australian public service is not known for its long term strategic whole-of -government thinking. For instance, its strategic response to global heating was, and still is, written by the greenhouse mafia in order to protect the coal-fired power stations. The energy and environmental departments are in never ending conflict with an another
Terry Moran, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet's secretary, in an address to the Institute of Public Administration Australia in July, picked on four main areas where the public service could lift its game. He says:
One, the quality of our policy advice to government must improve. Two, we must not only strengthen our focus on service delivery but enable public servants who create policy to learn from those who deliver it. Three, we must work tirelessly to put the citizen at the centre of our programs and policies. And four, we must strive to attract and retain the highest quality people because if we do that, the right policies and solutions will follow.
It is certainly not citizen focused as exemplified by the Department of Immigration over the last decade. Not has it done very much with respect to the governing the Murray-Darling Basin sustainably.
Moran adds:
By and large, I believe the public service gives good advice on incremental policy improvement. Where we fall down is in long-term, transformational thinking; the big picture stuff. We are still more reactive than proactive; more inward than outward-looking. We are allergic to risk, sometimes infected by a culture of timidity.
That's accurate. But it does not address the way that the bureaucracy has been captured by those with commercial and political power who are opposed to reform.
|
"But it does not address the way that the bureaucracy has been captured by those opposed to reform"
Exactly.
Public servants are always under pressure to conform to the wants of the hierachy and the politicians, to please the bosses.
That way lies advancement,funds,resources, the other way lies ...
All govts try to impose their will and their POVs on the public servants via the hierachies as well as policy.
For some years I had frequent contact with a few govt. depts and a major problem was simply being able to communicate at a basic level.
"You are having problems with kangaroos eating your trees? Here's a 'destruction' permit. No problem."
We were talking different languages.
Literally in many cases. Language has been altered to fit the prevailing paradigm of the political masters [I chose that word]. Inappropriate 'gender neutrality' has become the norm.
Unfortunately the Howard Coalition had nearly a dozen years to impose its will on the public servants, to control from the top down, cower the researchers and advice givers. They did the same with the NGOs using defunding as a threat so that NGOs would not publicly criticise COALition policy or even act or think or write outside the acceptable conservative paradigms.
this has been reflected at all levels of govt depts. They have become cowered.
And the expected and hoped for revitalization has been slow and minimal.
I don't know if Moran understood that the person[s] causing the problem is himself and his superiors?
That the change needs to come from above and of the people above, leadership rather than control.
Only then will public servants be able to do their jobs properly.