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The Forum > Article Comments > Evidence please, not more bashing of our public sector > Comments

Evidence please, not more bashing of our public sector : Comments

By James Whelan, published 17/11/2011

Surveys show that Australians believe the public service is under-funded and would pay higher taxes to bring it up to best practice.

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So commerce is efficient? The GFC has demonstrated the old notion privatise profits, make public losses.

Sydney is beset by PPP fiascos, the Airport train line, a multitude of tunnels let alone construction contracts all propped up by the public purse. The Lane Cove tunnel should not benefit from “traffic calming measures” to try to force customers into the tunnel. Let them either win customers or close – that is commerce.

IPA’s criticism is that the Public Service exists. The real criticism should be it has become a play thing of politicians; it exists to make the political masters look good by providing advice. Crean once opined the service exists to provide advice to the minister of the day not serve the public.

The service must have mandates as to what service it is to provide to the public and be given QANGO status to be allowed to get on with the job not be diverted by Ministerial whim. Senior staff’s future must be tied to this, not to short term contracts arbitrated by a politician.

The service does become bloated by middle management. NSW DPI has shrunk by 2/3 yet maintains pretty well the same amount of middle management. That Department also demonstrates the main quality for promotion is sycophancy not competence.

DPI furthermore proves following policies regarding promotions and appointments for other political purposes leads to people who are inept assuming managerial roles. That particular Department, which is representative of all such Departments, now lacks any semblance of credibility or purpose yet the clear community benefit of assuring food security remains.

The Service should be creating value not busily destroying it. IPA’s answer of getting rid of the service won’t solve the community’s need for what the service can achieve. Rebuilding the Service is required.

If commerce is so good why then is the USA going to hell in a hand basket on the back of GFC and all that led to that?
Posted by Cronus, Thursday, 17 November 2011 9:08:03 AM
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Some of the biggest rip-offs have come via outsourcing government functions.

The halo of evidence-based policy is no more immune from spin and influence than any other approach to policy. Who provides the evidence and how much consultation is involved. Policy has always been evidence-based really - it is not usually made up out of thin air but a response to need. EBP is just a new phrase trotted out by the PR apparatchiks.

While I am highly critical of public service operations from experience, I also know that there are many hard working and committed public servants who are providing necessary services. Unfortunately not many of them are in positions of power and those who do rise through the ranks become subject to the same entrenched cultural barriers as those before them, and if you want a career...well you have to change your loyalties, and those loyalties are not always to the integrity of the services being provided.

There is a need for better public 'service' of that there is no doubt, ironically some of the worst examples come from outsourcing decisions, which may reflect 'savings' in one budgetary area only to find them hidden away in another.

The APS has become too politicised. Howard Government contributed greatly to this process particularly in the arena of national security. Some public servants now resemble political staffers in spinning public policy - spend some time in a Communications area and you will see all the spin you can stomach for a while.

Outsourcing functions is part of the problem. The private sector veritably salivates at the sound of cash registers ringing. versighting outscourcing properly also comes at a cost. There is often no 'real' saving. It just means moving jobs around between the private to the public sector, same cost overall just different window dressing.

But it is also the tendency to bash the public service that encourages people like Hockey and other razor gang types in winning brownie points by being SEEN to cut the APS when really a different picture emerges if you just follow the money.
Posted by pelican, Thursday, 17 November 2011 10:25:41 AM
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That's not really evidence for or against what the IPA is saying though, is it?

Speaking in relative terms (the public sector hasn't grown in 20 years) does not validate or invalidate the IPA's claim that it is 'too big'.

Similarly, just saying that a certain portion of the population likes something doesn't mean that that portion of the population is right.

I welcome the Centre's attempt to challenge the ideas of the IPA. But it has to be evidence-based AND logic-based. Throwing out numbers and then claiming victory doesn't stand up if there is no logical consistency.
Posted by burning-ship, Thursday, 17 November 2011 10:50:48 AM
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I wonder if James wages come from the public purse?

Where did you do your research James, would it have been in the Canberra government offices canteens? I doubt you asked anyone around here, if that's the answer.

How many public servants do you have in your unit, gazing at their navels, doing a totally unnecessary make work job? Send a few of them up here, to talk to real people, & you'll have to rewrite this article.

Here's an an example of why we think there are too many public servants.

We have a nice modern hospital in our nearby town.

It employs 175 people. They are,

4 doctors,
2 electronic medical people,
1 dentist,
1 & 1/2 physiotherapists,
& a dozen or so nurses.

Now perhaps, just so we don't get the wrong impression, that there are too many public servants, you could explain what the other 150 or so actually do. They sure don't look after patients.

One important member of staff is the groundsman. He keeps the helipad, & the ambulance parking nice & tidy, so patients can be sent off else where.

It appears all those office staff don't like having sick or injured people around, makes the place so untidy. They move heaven & earth to get rid of anyone before 5.00PM, to avoid overnight stays.

When a friend wanted his aging mother transferred back to the local hospital, after she had a broken arm plastered at a big inner city one, he was told no. They had found she had a high platelet count, & the hospital was not equipped to deal with such patients.

Their suggestion, have her transferred to a local nursing home. It had no doctors, 3 nurses, & about 20 staff, but they considered it better equipped than the hospital, to deal with his mother. Yes right!

Please suggest why we pay 175 public servants to spend their time avoiding doing anything useful.

Then tell us why we should not be rolling on the floor laughing at your article.
Posted by Hasbeen, Thursday, 17 November 2011 11:57:54 AM
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I think the author must be right, on the basis of available anecdotal evidence - viz the failures of Serco, the wastage in the school halls project, the deficiencies in the home insulation scheme, the failure of health care to keep up with demand and the consequential rise and rise of private hospitals and clinics, the unenlightening state of the public schools system across Australia, and various debacles in defence provisioning, for example. Some may well argue that such problem areas point to less than prime performance of the public services, state and federal, but there is clear indication of government interference in both prioritising and procedural implementation of programs, mostly for political purposes rather than service to the public, with inevitable consequences. The virtual castration of the various home solar schemes is a prime example of government changing its mind in mid stride through having miscalculated costs and take-up, but equally by shifting priorities with little regard for the consequential damage to industry, to households, and to credibility regarding the supposed underlying objective of taking positive action to reduce emissions.

A public service cannot function efficiently and effectively if policy and programs are changed on whim of the political tide. Neither can a country. Long term objectives and policy need to be set on the basis of determined need and budgetary capacity, and so be immune from whim and fancy or a looming election.

Private sector and public sector both have their place, but the short-sighted quick fix approach of contracting out without adequate evaluation and scrutiny, which is becoming increasingly prevalent, is proving to be an increasingly costly error. If we want the best results and the best bang for our buck, we can only achieve this with an efficient and adequately funded public service, and a far more stable approach to policy development and implementation.

Serco is a disaster, from start to finish.
Posted by Saltpetre, Thursday, 17 November 2011 12:31:35 PM
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*Some of the biggest rip-offs have come via outsourcing government functions.*

Pelican, the public service set the terms and conditions. All
that you are implying is that they could not even get that right
Posted by Yabby, Thursday, 17 November 2011 2:06:30 PM
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