Lundy nervous about PS "razor gang".

Thatcher told Howard years ago that one of his main jobs was to secure the appointments of the 600 people in the country who actually made the decisions – guess it’s Rudd’s turn now.

(The other thing she told him was to never admit being wrong)

I was one of the ones purged by the incoming Liberals who wanted smaller government and public servants would be policy and not auxillary. DAS, the printing office, Comcar, Purchasing Australia all had lower paid & blue collar staff. Some have made a fortune in private enterprise. Most haven’t.
The bloat is in SES advisors and spin doctors now, but they will be replaced quickly with Labor mates.

If I may quote from the APSC 05-06 statistical bulletin…

At June 2006, there were 2253 SES employees in the APS, up from 2028 last year.The proportional increase in the size of the SES (11.1%) was larger than the growth in the APS overall.

Chop them at the top I say, and chop them hard. It works for the roses, and it would work for the PS. If Kevin would like to borrow my chainsaw, he has only to ask.

ant – re: DEWR, workchoices perhaps?

There are certainly effiiciencies that can be garnished from a clean out of the APS.

You look at what has happened at the state and federal level previously, and you tend to see that after total program changes (such as removal of workchoices, troops out of afghanistan, streamlined medicare and health services) there will almost certainly be a clean out of administration positions, which is good. For the past few years there has been too many good programs and initiatives brought undone by an ineffective and oversized bureaucracy, at all levels not just federal. Look at the health system for an example

Mark Patterson and Jane Halton will jump… Sheargold will hold on for a few months then get a job offer in Melbourne

“I know some people that have worked in the same job for 15 years (and it is not as if they are stellar performers)”

Ha, blow-ins! I know of a guy who joined the APS as a section head in 1974 and has been in the same job ever since.

And any one who touched the F18Fs

Jane Halton is top of mind to go (spruiker for the children overboard).
And that woman on the workplace ads.

rudds form on clean outs within the qld PS is very well documented – he is very good at it. dont underestimateis ability to dislodge cockroaches. THe other difference here is the gfenerational change that is occuring. I think that most of the long termers will not have the energy to dig in – in 96 most of the dead wood was in their 40’s

Does anyone think that the Dead Wood and Long Termers go when they have a pogrom?! Hah. The ones who can go out and make money go, and the APS is not sanitised. The Razor Gang thing is to please everyone who hates “Canberra”. It’s interesting that he names DEWR as a target though.

Might be easier so say which will stay…… The only one that I can think of with cred on both side is Mark Sullivan

A slash and burn would be a good thing. There is no doubt the PS has become too big, top heavy and centralised in Canberra.

There are also too many long termers that need to move on – I know some people that have worked in the same job for 15 years (and it is not as if they are stellar performers)

So, which Dep’t heads will get the chop?

A big public service is a natural consequence of Howard’s anti-conservative policies dressed up as capital “C” conservatism for the left leaning aspirational voters. Big government is anathema to any true conservative, yet Howard has made an art form of selling the punters traditional mainstream Labor platform as his own – bloating up the public service as he centralizes power – proudly urinating in the mouth of Menzies corpse as he makes government more interventionist, regulatory and proscriptive as he shamelessly paders to the lame of brain and the dull of wit who demand – “I want the Government to do something about this!” like the good little Labour voters they are …, and in the process Howard has, until now, successfully pushed Labor to the outer (viz the Fat Boy and Latham).

It’s why Rudd is freaking Howard out big time – because instead of trying to distance himself (and get sucker-punched on the wedge), Rudd is saying, “Yeah, those policies sit comfortable with traditional Labor” The undeniable reality is, that every time Howard says “Rudd is just copying us!” he’s actually saying “We’re no different from the mainstream and Rudd does ‘mainstream’ more convincingly than I can…”

The public service is bloated, as a consequence of Howard’s many vote buying schemes.

And Labor’s “big bad enemy” is all those horrible people who kicked poor Goughie out of office back in ’75!

… a lot of people in Canberra seem to think that it is only ever Liberal Govts that hammer the PS.

Yes, but even Little Kev’s fans know he’s going to be the best Liberal Prime Minister since Keating…

My theory is that the Libs (the real ones) always have to have a Big Bad Enemy. It comes of the party’s birth in the midst of Cold War paranoia. Initially in 1996 it was the bloated Public Service, then The Gun (after Martin Bryant had his day trip to Tassie) then a bunch of other factors like queue jumpers, unions and the rest. So they attack their enemy because it’s just What They Do.

Whereas Kev will cut the PS because it’s a good policy to demonstrate how Conservative he is. Sigh

Machinery Of Government

Test for moderation at wordpress. why?

What’s a MOG change?

I forgot about all the merges and name changes we’ll get. They should just try not doing that for a while and save a fortune on new business cards etc.

Some people need them (when you deal with external people often), but really, most public servants don’t even use their endless business cards, it is a waste of our taxes. I dont bother with them anymore.

“they think everyone in Canberra is in the PS, and that we get given heaps of money by the Commonwealth to live the high life.” – some truth there.

That should be a lot of $ for little pain

MR Evil – got to say you are right on this one.
Historically all first term Govt’s do like a bit of slash and burn of the PS – House prices might get to drop a bit. Although ALP Government’s tend to use the PS to advise it, so it might be a temporary thing. That said there are so few lower level APS staff in Canberra anymore not sure where Kev is going to find them. Mind you with a big enough MOG change and a few mergers they might be able to cull a few hundred SES and associated spear carriers, saving a lot of $ for little dollars.

I was being sarcastic because a lot of people in Canberra seem to think that it is only ever Liberal Govts that hammer the PS.

I guess it’s good to see Kevin’s being up front about it, but it certainly won’t win him many friends in Canberra. Of course on the other hand, the rest of Australia will be overjoyed about this news because they think everyone in Canberra is in the PS, and that we get given heaps of money by the Commonwealth to live the high life.

So what you’re saying is that the ridiculously huge cuts in 1996 weren’t cause to mistrust our current government? Or did you only start getting sarcastic once Wee Johnnie started losing?

Every government cuts the Public Service when they get into power. All the good employees come back as contractors, until the next time the Dept of Finance reminds the Minister that permanent employees are cheaper in the long run. Rinse, repeat.