Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

While I share the member for Wentworth's passion for ensuring Australia has the best quality Public Service anywhere in the world, I would have to respectfully disagree with the description of this bill as 'weak.' This bill gets things done, some of which have been waiting to happen since we received the Thodey report back in 2019. I also note that we can't dismiss the important processes that are started when you do things such as a royal commission, as was characterised just then. You do those deep royal commissions so that you can get the answers that only a royal commission can give to government around the sorts of improvements that we need. As the Prime Minister, the Minister for the Public Service, the Minister for Human Services and others have said, we are committed to reviewing that report, giving it due regard and, if necessary, legislating a response to that report. But I note that we brought this piece of legislation into the parliament prior to receiving that report. Some people in this place might think they can predict what was going to be in a royal commission report. We had to wait to receive that report to respond to it.

On the specific proposals in these amendments, it is important that we recognise that this bill is one part of an ongoing APS reform agenda, an agenda that has been developed over the last year. The consultation that has happened included some 11,000 people engaging. When we go back to 2019 for the Thodey review, I think there were 400 consultation sessions that were part of that review. We've had deep engagement when it comes to speaking with members of the Public Service, past and present. We've had engagement in this forum and other parliamentary forums. I do want to thank not just those who have engaged in the consultation but all of the public servants who engaged in this process. We had deep engagement with the Public Service in developing this piece of legislation.

What we are concerned about in particular with these amendments is that, while they are both detailed in nature and propose quite dramatic change, they haven't gone through that same process of consultation. There is a concern from the government that, when it comes to changes to the appointments of agency heads, including secretary appointments and making them disallowable instruments, that would head us in Australia more towards a system where you have political contestability over who those appointments are. I would hate to think that you get to a point where, to cut a deal in the Senate, you are changing who is the secretary of a department to appease someone's political interests. It would be the sort of thing—and we've seen this in other countries—where you see appointments overpoliticised because they become effectively subject to Senate confirmation hearings. You would see, potentially, appointments held hostage in the Senate and departments going without secretaries for months and months after they've been announced by the government.

When it comes to the other issues around changing and adding further values for the Australian Public Service, we believe that much of what the member has rightfully identified as the sorts of guidance that you'd want to give to public servants is already captured. The existing APS value of 'ethical', which I referred to before, is:

The APS demonstrates leadership, is trustworthy and acts with integrity, in all that it does.

We already have a section in the act as it stands today that states:

The APS is a career-based public service that:

…   …   …

(c) makes decisions relating to engagement and promotion that are based on merit…

That is already there. The existing APS value of 'accountable' states:

The APS is open and accountable to the Australian community under the law and within the framework of Ministerial responsibility.

We believe that these appropriately capture and send the right message to the Public Service. I note that it's an obligation on every public servant to uphold those values. I think there's also an obligation on all of us when we engage with public servants to uphold those values. So, while I really do welcome the deep engagements we've had from a range of members on this bill, the government won't be supporting these amendments.

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