L
. J4USTRALIA gr
PRIME MINISTER
FOR MEDIA MONDAY, V5DECEMBER 19 81
SPEECH AT CHRISTMAS RECEPTION FOR SENIOR PUBLIC SERVANTS, CANERRA
It has not been a custom on these occasions to raise issues of
major concern in an explicit or formal way. However, I have
wanted for some time to comment on the view, and I have no
doubt that it is a widespread view, that there has been a slippage
in public service morale because of criticism and pressure on
the service. I have chosen.-this occasion to say something about
the Public Service and its future because I particularly want
the people here to be aware of my concerns, and the concerns
of the Government in relation to it.
I do not need to tell anyone here that public servants seldom
receive many plaudits for the contribution they make to the
smooth running and the progressive development of Australian
society. The contribution made over the years has been an
enormous one and it has not been adequately recognised. On
the contrary, public servants and even politicians are bound
to accept a degreee of public criticism, some of it
unwarranted, as part of the system to which we are committed.
In this connection, there is a question as to how concerned we
should be about the " image" of the Public Service, or 1perhaps
I should say its so-called image in the wider Australian
commun~ ity. I h ave in mind in parts the words of William
Plowden, Director-General of the Royal Institute of Public
Administration, who spoke on this topic in Brisbane some
12 months ago. Plowden said, " the whole relationship between
media comments and reports on any subject, and public views of
the subject, is extremely problematical..." and he went on
to explain his point by saying-" don't believe everying you
read in the newspapers, and don't believe either that everybody
else believes it".
In any case I don't know that many of you would appreciate
too many public plaudits even if you could get them, because
the real challenge of work in the Public Service lies in different
directions. The real challenges are to combine efficiency
with the kind of administration and service which the people
whom we serve are really seeking, and to combine dedicated
service to the government of the day, whatever government that
might be, on the one hand with the level of expertise on
which effective modern government depends, and on the other
hand with the non-political character which is at the
foundation of our public service system. / 2
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I don't believe for one moment that good government would be
enhanced in Australia by importation of the US system, where
governments change ever 4 years and push out one group of
advisers and puts in another.
No-one appreciates the proper nature of the relationship betweE~ n
the Public Service and the Government better than senior
Public Servants, and I believe that the provisions which the Government
introduced some years ago in relation to the appointement
of Permanent Heads also make an important contribution in
terms of enshrining and institutionalising the nature of that
relationship to take it out of political hands for the sake of
politics. I cannot emphasise too much the importance.. to the future of
this nation of an efficient and competent Public Service. It
is crucial that the traditions of dedication and service to the
Government of the day continue, that the motivation and moralE!
of the Service be maintained, and that the quality of the
Government's advisers and of their management skills be
progressively enhanced in , the face of the growing complexity
of* Government administration.
As Prime Mlinister, I have welcomed and appreciated the quality
and frankness of advice that I have received-I not only as Prime
. minister, but in my earlier years as a MInister. It is the
responsibility of senior Public Servants to tell Ministers
both the g~ ood and the bad news. The Government may take a
view different from the advice that it has received from its
Public Service advisers, but that is in the nature of the
democratic process; it certainly does not reflect either on
the advisers themselves, or on the quality of their
advice I have no doubt that it reflects on the quality of the
Ministers and their capacity for judgement.
I said some years ago that: " Politicians and Public Servants
are partners in Government, whatever political parties are in
power. And tl ' ey share another characteristic which I strongly
hold. They are both servants of the people". We have determined,
as a policy, that part of the way Government is organised and
run is to enable staff to do its best, and part of doing it be! st
lies in not only looking after public money but also in givingr
a good service to the client. I am sure that this is a policy
which nobody here would want to argue with, but there are SOME!
other aspects of policy which also call for comment.
it is obviously impossible to consider issues of
concern for the Public Service without taking account of the fact
that in recent years Governments throughout the world have fa! ed
great difficulties, and the need for some new policy directions
arising from significant changes in the international economic
and strategic sitution.
These challenges have been reflected in the nature and volume
of the demands placed upon Public Servants, in~ narticular
demands on First and Second Division officers. I saw / 3
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representatives of Second Division officers today Sir William
Cole was there and they were useful discussions and designed
to improve communications in a sensible way. The demands
on the Service have seen not only greater complexity and
sophistication in the policy advice and management skills
required, but also a reduction in the level of staffing and
financial resources made available to the Public Service to do
its job. I know that our staff ceiling policies have imposed
pressures and challenges on the Public Service. While I
make no aplogy for the policies which require a leaner
Public Service, I would emphasise that decisions to reduce the
size of the Public Service should not be interpreted to mean
that we are dissatisfied with the standard of competence or
dedication of Public Servants.
Moreover, against a background of increased'interest by the
community in the rights of individuals and in the administration
of policies affecting those rights, we have seen a very considerable
growth in mechanisms for imposing greater accountability on
the Public Service.
In brief, you have been required to carry out more difficult
tasks, often with less staff, and in the face of increasing
public scrutiny. I believe despite . the stresses and strains
that have arisen, the service as a whole has accepted the
challenges placed upon it, and responded in a very creditable
way to these challenges. And I must say that in spite of
a good deal of talk about the Public Service, I am heartened
by the quality of people that we have attracted into the Serv-iLce,
and at the contribution that they are making. I am heartened
also at the endeavours that are being made to upgrade the skills
and development of younger officers through schemes such as
th e Executive Development Scheme and the Interchange Programme,
because schemes such as these have the capacity to widen
the skills of Public Servants and also to increase their
understanding of attitudes and problems in the wider community.
In a smaller, leaner Public Service, management skills,
intelllectual ability and capacity to cope with a new technology
will all be of increasing importance. Nor should the value of
the fundmental, old established traditions and attributes
of the Public Service be forgotten. These are the need for
full frank advice to Government, neutrality, impartiality
and dedication in implementing the decisions of Government
and of the Parliament, together with fairness and ecjruity
in dealing with the claims of individuals.
In all of these things I remain as I have always been confident
of the response of the Public Service. I am on record, in
the Parliament and elsewhere, as appreciative of the professionalism
and competence of our Public Service, and have no hesitation
in endorsing comments by senior private enterprise managers
to the effect and, to quote one of them, " Don't ever let anyone
tell you that the executive level of the Public Service does
not earn its keep". 000---