Gallagher honoured to be Government Services Minister, says Dutton greatest threat to APS

Katy Gallagher has plenty of praise for the man she replaces in the Government Services portfolio, but she has flagged a different approach to the ministry than that of former minister Bill Shorten.

Straight after being sworn in as Minister for Government Services on Monday (20 January), Senator Gallagher – who is also Minister for Finance, Minister for the Public Service and Minister for Women – fronted the media to relay her delight with the new role and explain how she will embrace the added responsibility.

Mr Shorten has left politics to take up a new role as Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Canberra on the same day Senator Gallagher was sworn into his former ministry.

Senator Gallagher said Mr Shorten was taking on an important role for which he was well qualified, but there should be no expectations that it would be business as usual at Services Australia.

“I mean, obviously we’re two different people, so we’ll have two different styles in how we approach our work,” she said.

“But he was a strong and effective leader. I saw that as Minister for Finance when he came into ERC [Expenditure Review Committee of Cabinet] and argued for resources for Services Australia.

“I think Services Australia have done well with Bill Shorten as their minister. You know, I’ll bring probably a different style than Bill, but it’s the same commitment to make sure that we have the customer at the centre of everything we do.

“I mean, it’s every single Australian, whether it be through Medicare or through Centrelink payments or through their interaction with child support services, has contact with this agency.

“We know it’s getting more and more important. We, you know, are looking at how to improve the ways that we engage with customers, making sure that they are at the centre and I’ll be focused on that.”

Services Australia comprises a huge portion of the Australian Public Service and has already attracted much of Senator Gallagher’s attention as APS Minister and Finance Minister.

Tensions over resourcing the often embattled agency are ongoing.

But the Minister thinks that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

“Services Australia is almost a quarter of the APS employment base, so it’s large,” she said.

“When you look at large, singular kind of agencies, Services Australia would be right up there.

“I mean, tension in public policy and public administration is good. I think it’s overwhelmingly a positive thing.

“But I guess the approach I’ve bought as Minister for Finance is not that I just say no to everything, but that we work out what is reasonable.

“I accept that providing government services costs money. It is resource-intensive. So, what is reasonable? I’ll come at it from that point of view.

“I want to make sure the agency is properly resourced to do the job it does. Not more than that, not less than that.”

The biggest threat to the APS, she said, was the Coalition’s pledge to slash its numbers.

Senator Gallagher will only be Government Services Minister for a matter of weeks before the federal election is held.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has spoken often about getting rid of “public servants in Canberra”, and his shadow ministers have backed him up.

Senator Gallagher said it would be devastating for the Canberra community if Mr Dutton carried through with his intentions.

“We saw it when John Howard did that, our local economy went into recession,” the Minister said.

“It will affect every small business in Canberra, it would affect every university and other employer.

“You know, this is our big employer in town, and it’s not just about protecting that.

“I mean, it’s the big employer in town because we’re the seat of government, and that’s our proud part of our being the nation’s capital.

“But if you sack 20 per cent of the workforce in the APS here, it would have a devastating impact on our local economy.”