Writer
PaddyGourley
Paddy Gourley is a former senior public servant.
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Messing up the sense of the census
It’s hard to imagine how the government could have made a bigger mess of questions about gender identity and sexual orientation for the 2026 Census. Continue reading »
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A timid PM, frozen in the glare of the Keating headlights
When the former Prime Minister, Paul Keating, recently claimed that Australia was losing its “strategic autonomy” and turning into “the 51st State of the United States”, the current Prime Minister froze in the headlights. Continue reading »
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ASIO, Burgess and the miasma of spookdom
Collecting, sifting and presenting information on national security is not the toughest job in the world although it can be tricky. Continue reading »
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When elected the Albanese Government inherited a federal public service rather like a semi-regurgitated dog’s breakfast
Attempts have been made to tidy things up but too much reliance has been place on administrative measures rather than the solidity of new or amended primary legislation. While some commendable things have been done, the overall program has been short on ambition and imagination, and progress has been oh so slow. Continue reading »
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“Ill-begotten siblings”: Australia and the United States of America
Allan Behm has been about a bit. Continue reading »
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Rodents in the ranks
The experience of recent injuries to the pro-integrity culture in the federal public service are rather like sensations, in dream or reality, of rodents scurrying up the legs of one’s pyjama pants. Disconcerting, unwelcome and potentially eye-watering. Continue reading »
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How governments hide their activities
Primary school students learn in their early days that accountability is a keystone of democracy. Not far into secondary school that reassuring notion is tempered as schoolies get to appreciate that for governments accountability equals political risk. It’s a pain in ministerial necks and should be kept within bounds sufficient to minimise electoral discomfort. Continue reading »
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Accepting reality: the future will not be made in Australia
With a couple of minutes Googling, your favourite Martian could be well informed on the role of government in the Australian economy from the moment of the arrival of the British colonialists. It’s been big. Continue reading »
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Lehrmann and the engagement of ministerial staff
In the oceanic commentary on the Bruce Lehrmann cases, little attention seems to have been given as to how he got into Minister Linda Reynolds office in the first place. If he hadn’t all could have been spared the terrible things that have happened as a consequence of his admission – the catastrophic ignominies he Continue reading »
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A victory against the flow of the tide
Under the Morrison and Albanese governments it may well be that the FoI Act has been more restrictively administered than at any time since it came into effect in 1982. Continue reading »
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Government shock as subordinating foreign and defence policy to US strangely unpopular with voters
A recent Essential Poll published in The Guardian proves yet again that silly questions often get silly answers. Continue reading »
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Two cheeks of the same backside: Galloway’s UK victory foretells ALP spanking
The Albanese ALP (Australian Labor Party) has become a true people’s government in the sense that its timidity restricts it from doing just about anything that might cause a political ripple. Continue reading »
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The Home Affairs security “GURU”
With the scalp of poor Mr Mike Pezzullo dangling from his belt, The Age/Sydney Morning Herald journalist Michael Bachelard continues to take a terrier-like interest in the Department of Home Affairs. Continue reading »
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How long does it take to skin a cat?
Well, if the cat is the referral of public servants by the Robodebt Royal Commission for code of conduct investigations now being dealt by the Public Service Commission, the answer is a long time. Continue reading »
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Mike Burgess’ “annual threat assessment”: Testing our reserves of patience
For the last few Februaries the Director-General of the ASIO, Mr Mike Burgess, has delivered an “annual threat assessment” by way of a speech to as many worthies as he can gather before him. He’s no doubt got the 2024 edition well in the works and invitations to the event in the post. Potential invitees Continue reading »
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Australia’s ever expanding security apparatus
Gareth Evans ,former Foreign Minister and the former ASIO head, Alan Wrigley, are likely not the only ones to be dubious about the value of much of the material collected by our security agencies. But most ministers are easily seduced. Continue reading »
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Freedom of information laws: grand in theory, dismal in practice
Accountability only works if information about government is readily available. And who doesn’t believe in accountability, at least in theory? Continue reading »
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Appointment of Home Affairs Secretary Foster not merit-based
On 1 November 2023 the Minister for the Public Service, Senator Gallagher said “in the next stage of reforms” to the public service the government would introduce “requirements for the Prime Minister and Cabinet Secretary to conduct merit-based appointment processes for Secretary roles to build rigor into the advice provided to the Prime Minister on Continue reading »
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The time for “slow” has expired: Reduce reliance on consultants now
The excessive use of consultants and contract labour was one of the most damaging injuries sustained by the Australian Public Service in the 10 years or so before the 2022 election. Continue reading »
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Against the tide: Defence secrecy in a modern age of openness
In the 1970s a study was undertaken into aspects of management in the Department of Defence. When an honest, conscientious and mildly critical report was provided to the Department’s Secretary, Sir Arthur Tange, he scrawled “CRANSTON” on its front page and gave the relevant file a stiff security classification. Continue reading »
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Getting the facts right on departmental tenure
Commentary on the tenure of Secretaries of Commonwealth Government departments is becoming perilous territory as those wading into it continue to make basic errors of fact. Continue reading »
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Asleep at the wheel of public service reform
The rehabilitation of the federal public service is a slow waltz – one step forward, one sideways and a couple backwards. To stretch the metaphors and with apologies to Don Gibson’s fine 1961 hit song, while the administrative ship of state is adrift in a sea of heartbreak, its principal stewards seem half asleep at Continue reading »
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Martin Flanagan’s ‘The Empty Honour Board’ draws us in to an unnatural world
The boarding students were far from home and the variable consolations of family life. They were shackled with priestly companions, pledged to lives of celibacy, who also had been removed from their families in their early teens and isolated from society in religious institutions from which they were then turned out, with scant proper preparation, Continue reading »
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Campbell’s AUKUS appointment did not meet standards of public service
There are solid grounds for suspecting that the appointment of Ms Kathryn Campbell, of Robodebt notoriety, to the Department of Defence’s AUKUS division did not meet the normal standards required for other appointments in the public service. Those responsible for the appointment of Ms Campbell and the suspension of her salary have got little to Continue reading »
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The problem for commentators in the so called “mainstream media”
They rely significantly on feeds of material that’s not otherwise readily available. As they’re in the news business, they need something new to keep in the hunt. Continue reading »
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Lack of tenure “core driver” of Robodebt disaster
It’s to be hoped that as much as possible can be squeezed from the Robodebt disaster not only to avoid a repeat but more generally to improve the working of the Australian government and its public service. Continue reading »
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Swathes of pro-integrity rhetoric no match for departmental “accountability shyness”
This is a brief, unhappy yarn about the struggle for accountability and integrity in a Commonwealth government organisation. The yarn’s principal character is the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C), now headed by Dr Glyn Davis, the de facto leader of the Australian Public Service (APS). The Department is at the forefront of Continue reading »
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Getting public service on an even keel key to better government
It may not be widely appreciated that door knocking religious proselytisers can be kept at bay by insisting they partake in discussions on public administration in exchange for whatever divine light is being diffused. It’s not that religion and public administration don’t mix; it’s that public administration is so tedious for all but those triple Continue reading »
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Robodebt and the APS
If the Australian Public Service and its satellite institutions were to last a thousand years, people will still say “The Robodebt was one of its most dismal hours”. Continue reading »
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The Order of Australia system: a bunyip aristocracy
The Order of Australia system is a bunyip aristocracy that reflects the hierarchies of British society in which the high and mighty get the cream and others are left with the skimmed milk. Continue reading »
