30 October 2013

Public service changes

| MsCheeky
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Interesting article in Crikey, (which is probably read be almost as many public servants as read Riotact). It included this, allegedly from a ‘peeved aid mandarin’:

“So AusAID had its first address from their new boss (DFAT Secretary Peter Varghese). In case having to bus over to his territory en masse wasn’t bad enough, staff had to endure the humiliation of standing on the ground floor of the atrium, while being looked down upon, literally and figuratively, by the DFAT staff on levels 2 and 3. Indeed, at one point, one ‘diplomat’ was seen to be motioning machine-gunning the AusAID staff below. Notwithstanding the fact that nobody at AusAID wants to be subsumed by DFAT, it’s a bit rich to treat your new colleagues this way when they outnumber you in staff (by 50%) and budget (by 500%). Thus far, an appalling case of integration that resembles, on all levels, a KKR-style hostile takeover.”

Not a good look, really!

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HiddenDragon11:11 am 31 Oct 13

Robertson said :

Ronald_Coase said :

I’d love to go into detail about why AusAID staff should be afraid, but all I will say is DFAT, and Varghese in particular, have form in integrating other agency’s functions. Then again maybe they’ve learnt from their mistakes.

Other agencies’.

Is literacy no long a basic requirement for obtaining an EL position at DFAT?

Longeur is sometimes favoured, one hears.

Ronald_Coase said :

I’d love to go into detail about why AusAID staff should be afraid, but all I will say is DFAT, and Varghese in particular, have form in integrating other agency’s functions. Then again maybe they’ve learnt from their mistakes.

Other agencies’.

Is literacy no long a basic requirement for obtaining an EL position at DFAT?

pics or it didn’t happen

RemembertheFax9:41 pm 30 Oct 13

Piffleball! Long time reader first time contributor. AusAID doesn’t outnumber DFAT by 50%, read the annual reports and count apples with apples. The writer of the crikey leak is using just Canberra based DFAT officers vs all AusAID officers including those employed by AusAID overseas.

Oh and how many staff could fit in DFAT’s atrium? If there weren’t DFAT staff in upper levels, then it would probably be some OH&S issue.

You also couldn’t do an all-staff email HiddenDragon, how would staff get to ask pertinent questions?

Imagine the outrage if they HADNT taken them to the same location as the DFAT employees!!

Its standard for Sec’s to try and bring everyone together in one location to show unity…..

Ronald_Coase5:47 pm 30 Oct 13

I’d love to go into detail about why AusAID staff should be afraid, but all I will say is DFAT, and Varghese in particular, have form in integrating other agency’s functions. Then again maybe they’ve learnt from their mistakes.

Not hard to guess the reasons for arranging the audience that way if you’re familiar with the respective Departments’ buildings.

So where should the Ausaid staff have assembled I wonder? I have been in the DFAT building a few times and the atrium is about the only large space I reckon they would fit, and as for the bridges where the DFAT staff looked down, I reckon you could fit maybe 50 on each level.

schmeah said :

I know some young chums who are pretty happy they are now part of DFAT, other than that everyone with a semi functioning brain knows this is a terrible move.

What is it with DFAT pubes anyway … So much, how do you say .. Froideur.

Froideur? Or fornication?

I know some young chums who are pretty happy they are now part of DFAT, other than that everyone with a semi functioning brain knows this is a terrible move.

What is it with DFAT pubes anyway … So much, how do you say .. Froideur.

Thats pretty poor behaviour on behalf of the so called ‘elite’ of the public sector, DFAT.

Shame on them.

Why couldnt the glorious secretary get off his butt and go to AUSAid instead?

HiddenDragon3:26 pm 30 Oct 13

An all-staff email or video would have saved the transport costs, and the reported crass behaviour.

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