Elevating Public Service issues to a Cabinet position in the recent rearrangement of Ministerial responsibilities has been welcomed by the main public sector union, but with a string of qualifications.
According to the National Secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union, Nadine Flood (pictured), linking the Australian Public Service (APS) to the Department of Finance has its drawbacks.
“Elevating the Public Service to Cabinet is a good decision, given that a strong Public Service is at the heart of good government, but it’s deeply worrying to see the APS in a combined portfolio with Finance, the Ministry charged with finding cuts and savings,” Ms Flood said.
She said three Prime Ministers in less than three years was obviously unhelpful for the Public Service and its role in providing essential public services and frank and fearless policy advice.
“This level of instability is bad news for the entire community,” Ms Flood said.
She said the new Minister for the APS, Senator Mathias Cormann, needed to focus on public services and policy capacity rather than hamstringing the Service with more cuts or further privatisation and outsourcing.
Ms Flood said Senator Cormann’s predecessor in the role, Kelly O’Dwyer, had now taken on the Jobs and Industrial Relations portfolio.
She recommended both Ministers sit down together and consider the impact recent past Governments had had on APS jobs and industrial relations – “setting a terrible example for the rest of the country and causing real harm to public sector workers and the Agencies they work for.”
“We believe this is a strong opportunity to change not just perceptions but policy,” Ms Flood said.
