Government Services Minister Bill Shorten has some questions to answer about an externally contracted, high-priced speechwriter. Photo: File.
Does anyone enjoy appearing before Senate Estimates?
Perhaps some do, but that can’t be said of Services Australia executives giving evidence to the Community Affairs Legislation Committee on Monday (3 June).
One in particular had an awful time: deputy chief executive officer for strategy and performance, Susie Smith.
There was a gang-up.
Liberal senators Linda Reynolds and Maria Kovacic were unforgiving as they fired question after question at Ms Smith over the appointment of a speechwriter.
Not any ordinary appointment, it must be noted.
This speechwriter, Julianne Stewart, was awarded a contract that amounts to more than $620,000 over two years.
Julianne Stewart was contracted as a speechwriter to Bill Shorten’s office. Photo: LinkedIn.
That extraordinary figure came about because, as Ms Smith said before the lunch break, it all came down to “a question of choice”.
The “choice” was made to go outside of the agency and beyond the realms of the entire Australian Public Service.
An external contractor was engaged to a job at easily more than double the cost “the best of the best” speechwriters inside the agency are paid – they’re on about $140,000 a year.
And here’s the rub: the speechwriter was contracted to Government Services Minister Bill Shorten and works primarily from his office.
Before the lunch break, Ms Smith admitted under scrutiny that the agency had sufficient capacity to fill the role internally.
Reynolds and Kovacic expressed outrage, particularly considering the minister already has speechwriters.
But after lunch and some desperate scrambling back at the office, Ms Smith “corrected” her statement to note that, in fact, the agency didn’t have capacity at the time the contractor was employed.
Senior speechwriters at Services Australia had left the organisation and, besides, Ms Stewart was engaged to do more than just write speeches for Shorten.
She writes for Services Australia as well, and she is mentoring and training internal communications officers.
On top of that, Smith said, there was an open recruitment process to fill the position, but it didn’t unearth a candidate with the requisite technical skills.
This was a red rag to a bull for the Liberal senators, who demanded to know why Services Australia, why the APS, and why the minister could not find anyone internally to do the job – and for less.
Reynolds and Kovacic, who were intermittently joined by Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John, went full flight into attack mode.
Smith, who no doubt got a bollocking during the break from her bosses (maybe even the minister’s office) over her morning’s answers, was now getting a beating from a Senate tag team of hungry wolves.
The senators appeared to be somewhat bullying. It was definitely badgering.
The Services Australia deputy CEO was visibly not at all happy and internally distressed, but she maintained composure and did a decent job of answering those questions she could while deflecting the ones she couldn’t (or didn’t want to) answer to the “take it on notice” pile.
It amounted to a long list of questions on notice.
The thing is, the questions asked by the senators were all valid.
How did someone get such a generous contract when Labor is banging on relentlessly about slashing the spend on external contractors, stopping the waste and employing from within the service?
And to be assigned to the minister’s office?
It’s pretty outrageous.
But here’s the other thing – as much as it was Ms Smith in the firing line yesterday, those questions were actually for Mr Shorten.
The minister has some explaining to do.
The Opposition likely knows more about this appointment than has yet been revealed.
The senators needed to get it out there in order for further scrutiny to follow.
Shadow assistant minister for government waste reduction James Stevens was out straight away, issuing a press release under the heading “The Bill no Australian could afford”, noting that Stewart’s speeches for Shorten have cost the taxpayer about $22,000 a pop.
The minister can now expect a few questions coming directly at him.
One more thing: while Ms Smith batted off the relentless questions over quite a lengthy period, her more senior male colleagues seated next to her did very little to help.
New CEO David Hazlehurst at least had one feeble attempt at relieving his deputy for a few moments, but Department of Social Services Secretary Ray Griggs was useless, and it’s not certain if the token government minister in the room, Don Farrell, was even awake.
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