EMBAEGOI2D UNTIL DELIVERY CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
LAUNCH OF PETER WILENSKI'S BOOR
" PUBLIC POWER AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION"
CANBERRA 14 OCTOBER 1986
I Ghould first congratulate the publishers Hale and
Iremonger, together with the Royal Australian Institute of
Public Administration on the remarkable timing of this
venture. it really is forward planning at its best.
Because, here is a book called Public Power and Public
Admirirtration being published at a time when its
goes to the very heart of the comtemporary public debate in
our cou~ ntry.
Furthermore, it arrives less than three weeks after I
announced in Parliament further major reforms to the
Australian Public Service.
one m~ ight almost think they had inside knowledge!
So, by any measure, it is an immensely timely book on an
immensely important subject.
The timing, the theme and the author form a remarkable
combination.
As to the author, I need only say there is simply nobody in
Australia so well qualified to write on this subject as
Peter wilenski.
I don't mean just his academic qualifications formidable
as they are.
But, for depth, diversity and directness of involvement,
Peter has, I venture to say, few peers in the area of public
administration in Australia.
He has seen it from all sides.
Throughout his service, Peter has maintained a strong
commitment to public service reform the ongoing task of
ensuring greater efficiency and effectiveness of the public
administration in this country.
And I take this opportunity to acknowledge his splendid
contribution to the work of reform which our Government has
undertaken. The success of that work is absolutely fundamental to the
achievement of the wider social and economic goals of this
Labor Government of Australia.
It is in this context of these wider goals that I place
Peter wilancki's book. I perhaps do not need to stress that
my launching of the book does not necessarily mean that I
travel comfortably with every sentiment in it.
Hugh Stretton has written a fine introduction.
And he writes:
" In the lucid argument of these essays, he confronts
' Rightv pretensions of small government and enhanced
public efficiency with the very different facts of
' Right' performance. He exposes the assumptions and
reasoning of New Right rhetoric and also quite a lot
of Left rhetoric without mercy."
of course, that is why this book is so timely.
It comes at a time when there is an urgent need to subject
the pretensions and panaceas of the so-called New Right to
intellectual scrutiny.
The moment that is done as soon as the rhetoric is exposed
to the rigour of reason and the facts of experience the
real motivez of the " New Right" become clear for all to
judge.
The fact is, of course, there is nothing fundamentally new
about the New Right at all. It's just the old reaction in
slightly more fashionable dress.
The only thing really new is that, for the first time for
forty years, the old reacticn has seized the ascendancy in
the councils of the major non-Labor parties * of Australia.
I suggest that should be a cause for deep anxiety on the
part of the great majority of non-Labor supporters the
decent, thinking Australians who were entitled to believe
that the party of their choice, and its leadership, was
placed firmly in the mainstream of the Australian tradition.
And to them and indeed to the entire non-Labor leadership,
in all its varying and conflicting manifestation, I
heartily commend a reading of Dr. Wilenski's book.
Let me emphasise that this is not in any way a partisan
tract. It is a genuine contribution to the public debate, written
from a standpoint of deep knowledge and experience.
Its lessons are valid and relevant for Labor and non-Labor,
alike. But, of course, its main message must be to the public
service itaelf.
It's not just a question of knowing what the Boss is
thinking though I have no doubt many might find that
useful. But the im~ pcrtant message to be read in these pages is that
the strength and effectiveness of the Australian Public
Service depends very largely on public perceptions of its
role and conduct.
The public service is always an easy target and not only
from the ra~ nks of reaction.
But, in the end, its ability to resist attack will be
measured by its standing with the Australian people. it
will depend on the degree to which the people perceive their
public service and public administration as efficient and
effective, responsive and responsible.
And the reforms our Government has undertaken cannot be
fully understood, unless the members of the public service
themselves understand their true nature and long term
purpose. It would be a fundamental mistake to think that these
reforms are merely some sort of cosmetic cost-cutting
exercise, in response to Australia's present economic
difficulties. Certainly, some aspects of our measures are a necessary part
of our comprehensive attack on those immediate problems.
But the higher goal remains a more efficient and effective
public sector.
And it's even more than that not only a more efficient and
effective public service, but a public service perceived as
such by the Australian people.
And in that perception the trust and respect of the people
lt~ es the enduring strength of the great Australian Public
Service.
And this book itself will be a valuable contribution, both
to that perception and to that strength.