By Julian Bajkowski Prime Minister Tony Abbott has announced that the head of Treasury, Martin Parkinson PSM, will stand down from his job in April 2014, along with three other department heads, in the first tranche of what is expected to be a substantial reshuffle of department heads under the new government. Announced as part […]
18 September, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski The Department of Finance has put some of the world’s biggest business software companies on notice that their lucrative contracts will soon be the subject to a sweeping review as the federal government seeks to extract better value from so-called enterprise resource management (ERP) systems. Just a week after the election of […]
17 September, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski Less cluttered, better focused, more energetic. That was message to public servants and the electorate in Prime Minister elect Tony Abbott’s First Ministry announcement where not everyone gets a prize, and some portfolio ministries just plain disappear through downsizing likely to be mirrored in public service agency roles. “What I’ve tried to […]
16 September, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski The federal ministry of Local Government could be the first of many administrative casualties in Canberra after the function conspicuously failed to appear in the publication of Prime Minister elect Tony Abbott’s first Ministry list. In a document that provides a partial window into how the bureaucracy and machinery of government of […]
16 September, 2013
FIRST ABBOTT MINISTRY As announced 16th September 2013 CABINET Prime Minister The Hon Tony Abbott MP Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development (Leader of the Nationals) The Hon Warren Truss MP Minister for Foreign Affairs (Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party) The Hon Julie Bishop MP Minister for Employment Minister Assisting the […]
16 September, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski Federal public servants are steeling themselves for a wide-ranging Commission of Audit by an incoming Tony Abbott Coalition government as the Prime Minister Elect prepares to come good on his election promise to cut down on wasteful and inefficient expenditure. Having received the incoming government brief from the public service known as […]
10 September, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski Councils and local governments across Australia are digging in for a battle to try and keep $150 million of federal infrastructure funding promised under the Regional Development Australia Fund (RDAF) after the Coalition refused to guarantee the money if it wins government. The Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) on Friday upped the […]
6 September, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski The Coalition has officially launched its eGovernment and Digital Economy policy for the election in a wide-ranging document that reaffirms a commitment centralised procurement of government computing combined with the development of a permanent and centralised digital identity credential for online transactions between the public and agencies. Released by Shadow Communications Minister […]
2 September, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski The union representing Commonwealth public servants has hit out at the release of selected costings by the Liberal Party for the election, warning that Coalition estimates of savings totalling $5.2 billion by culling 12,000 government jobs no longer add up. The Community and Public Sector Union has called on Opposition Leader Tony […]
29 August, 2013
By Paul Hemsley Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has made an ambitious bid to get Labor’s trailing electoral fortunes back on track on the East Coast by pitching the big-picture infrastructure vision of High Speed Rail against Tony Abbott’s smaller target Paid Parental Leave scheme as a better use of taxpayers money. Mr Rudd yesterday committed […]
27 August, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has held crisis talks with the head of the federal Department of Health and Ageing, Professor Jane Halton, over the unprecedented walkout of clinical advisors from the nation’s decade long $1 billion effort to build a functional eHealth system. Held on Tuesday, the meeting followed calls by […]
23 August, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski Councils across Australia are seeking a refund from Canberra for more than $3 million in ratepayers money they spent to promote the ‘yes’ case for a referendum on the Constitutional recognition of local government that was scrapped alongside the announcement of a new federal poll date. The Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) […]
19 August, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski and Paul Hemsley Anger within the Commonwealth public service over fresh funding cuts by the Rudd government has boiled over after the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) announced it had “voted to extend the suspension of all CPSU election campaigning in protest at Government plans to cut $1.8 billion from federal […]
6 August, 2013
By Julian Bajkowski Councils across Australia will soon be forced to explain to ratepayers how much of their money was spent pushing the ‘Yes’ case for the proposed referendum on financial recognition for local government in the Constitution after the poll officially bit the dust on Sunday. The announcement of a 7th September election date […]
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