John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

Of that I am certain. I seek leave to make a further personal explanation.

Leave granted.

On 15 April this year News Limited newspapers ran an item on turnover in ministerial staff offices in this government. In a graphic alongside the article it stated that I had lost some 50 per cent of my staff. The journalist claimed that I had allegedly lost eight staff because I was ‘a tough minister’. The journalist, Mr Lewis, stated that he had calculated the turnover in staff by tracking changes in personnel in various internal phonebooks over 2008 to 2010. He did not include the departure of departmental liaison officers but did include departures in electorate office staff.

I want to say very clearly that there are flaws in Mr Lewis’ methodology. It failed to take into account transitional temporary positions supplied by departments and internal shifts between ministers’ offices. After the election, temporary staff provided by departments remained on deck for weeks or even months while permanent positions were filled. Since my own portfolio changed in June 2009 from Special Minister of State and Cabinet Secretary to Minister for Defence such temporary positions were factored in twice. This would also have occurred to the staffing component of perhaps some of my other colleagues but I cannot speak on their behalf.

I just want to place the facts on record in this personal explanation: 33 people, permanent and temporary, have worked for me as Special Minister of State or Minister for Defence. Two were ADCs and seven were temporary staff supplied by the respective department. So I have had 24 staff work on a permanent basis—that is, staff employed under the MOP(S) Act. After becoming defence minister two left and four others went to other offices in the building, rather than leave the service of the Rudd government. Two of those in fact went to the Prime Minister’s office. So the portfolio change accounted for six staff changes.