John Anderson sits down with former NSW Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner Mike Newman to examine the culture, size and direction of Australia’s modern public service. While both men acknowledge the vital role of capable public servants, they question whether the system has become bloated, inward-looking and detached from the realities faced by households and businesses. At a time of falling productivity and rising cost-of-living pressures, they ask whether the balance between administration and wealth creation has drifted out of alignment.
The discussion moves beyond numbers to deeper questions of accountability, incentives and institutional culture. From regulatory overreach to major project failures, Newman argues that expansion has too often come without corresponding responsibility. Yet, he also highlights examples where strong leadership and a service-first mindset have delivered genuine reform. It is a serious, practical examination of how Australia governs itself, and what must change to restore discipline, effectiveness and public trust."
After having watched this gob-smacking video clip, I was too much lost for words to find my own and simply copied the above text from the YouTube recording; however, on later reflection and drawing on my years living cheek by jowl with both local and federal public servants — whoever came up with the term "public servant" must have had a great sense of humour — and a brief brush with the public service during my time with ATSIC, I can confirm that everything is only oh so true!
In Canberra I lived in a cul-de-sac of fourteen houses in which I was the only one who was not a public servant or, to put it more bluntly, who worked for a living. The rest of them went to work long after I had gone, and by the time I came home again, they were already cutting their lawns within an inch of their lives (the lawns', not their lives'!)
For my six months inside ATSIC I was hired to do the work the others didn't do because they were too busy discussing what colour donut to buy for the next coffee break, and once that was done, to take the lift downstairs to stand outside the office building for a cigarette break - I heard of people who took up smoking to get the extra break! - after which it was almost time again for another discussion about donuts.
Public Service? Give me a break, but not a donut or smoko break!
P.S. For equally brilliant videos from John Anderson Media, click here.
