Within hours of being sworn in, Tony Abbott’s office issued a press release, announcing three departmental secretaries had had their contracts terminated and the Treasury Secretary would stand down the next year.
Dr Don Russell lost his job as head of the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research; Blair Comley was the head of the Resources, Energy and Tourism Department; and Andrew Metcalfe, a former Immigration Department chief, was sacked from head of the Agriculture Department.
Mr Metcalfe led the Immigration Department from 2005 to 2012 in a tenure that spanned Liberal and Labor governments and, as a former Liberal staffer, was thought to enjoy good relations with both sides of politics.
But the veteran public servant, who was less than a year away from being able to access his Commonwealth superannuation benefits, made enemies in the Coalition from his close association with the Labor government’s failed “Malaysia solution” to asylum seeker boat arrivals.
He also publicly disparaged the idea of turning back asylum seeker boats.
Dr Russell, a former ambassador to the US with a long association with Labor, had been tipped to quit the public service rather than serve a Coalition government.
Mr Comley had been at Energy and Resources was the last secretary of the now-defunct Climate Change Department.
Both Mr Comley and his mentor, Dr Parkinson, who also served as head of the Climate Change Department, were closely associated with the design of the carbon price.
Dr Parkinson was forced before the 2013 election to mount a robust defence of his department’s performance in the face of Coalition attacks and accusation that Treasury had been “politicised”.
He is now Turnbull’s Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Abbott also announced that AusAID, Australia’s overseas aid agency, would be integrated into the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), leading to the resignation of AusAID’s director-general Peter Baxter.
Turnbull moved quickly to sack Mike Quigley and demand the resignations of the entire NBN co board, appointing his friend, former Telstra chief executive Ziggy Switkowski to kill the FttP model.
The head of Infrastructure Australia, Michael Deegan, stepped down in February 2014 after he lashed out against the Abbott government for eroding the advisory body’s independence.
At George Pell’s behest, the Abbott government tried (unsuccessfully) to abolish the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, despite 82% of the sector believing it was important to keep the charity regulator.
They have also tried repeatedly to abolish all bodies that advise on climate change or promote renewable energy – with some success.
Barnaby Joyce, when criticised by Agriculture Department head Paul Grimes, promptly sacked him.
George Brandis has tried unsuccessfully to get AHRC head Gillian Triggs to resign because of her persistent defence of human rights though he did get success in so neutering Solicitor-General Justin Gleeson that he forced his resignation, much to the disgust of the legal fraternity.
There are countless examples of this government’s profligate waste of expertise and experience including in their savage cuts to the ATO, ASIC, the CSIRO and other bodies, all of whom have lost a wealth of talent.
Morrison dispensed with doing a tax white paper altogether despite all his supposed consultation.
The public service used to provide a crucial role, giving honest advice to the government of the day, regardless of its persuasion. Nowadays, advising the Coalition government that their policy has problems or that there may be a better way to approach a problem is career-ending. The IPA has published their wish list. No discussion necessary.
Ignoring advice and silencing criticism is not a formula for the successful running of the nation but hey – it might keep Bananababy, the Mad Monk, Erica and Barnyardi happy.
