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A Passion for Policy: Essays in Public Sector Reform

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A Passion for Policy: Essays in Public Sector Reform A Passion for Policy Essays in Public Sector Reform A Passion for Policy Essays in Public Sector Reform Edited by John Wanna Published by ANU E Press The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at: http://epress.anu.edu.au/policy_citation.html National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Wanna, John. A passion for policy : ANZOG lecture series 2005-2006. ISBN 9781921313349 (pbk.). ISBN 9781921313356 (web). 1. Policy sciences. 2. Political planning - Australia. I. Australia and New Zealand School of Government. II. Title. (Series : ANSOG monographs). 320.60994 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design by John Butcher Printed by University Printing Services, ANU Funding for this monograph series has been provided by the Australia and New Zealand School of Government Research Program. This edition © 2007 ANU E Press John Wanna, Series Editor Professor John Wanna is the Sir John Bunting Chair of Public Administration at the Research School of Social Sciences at The Australian National University. He is the director of research for the Australian and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG). He is also a joint appointment with the Department of Politics and Public Policy at Griffith University and a principal researcher with two research centres: the Governance and Public Policy Research Centre and the nationally-funded Key Centre in Ethics, Law, Justice and Governance at Griffith University. Professor Wanna has produced around 17 books including two national text books on policy and public management. He has produced a number of research-based studies on budgeting and financial management including: Budgetary Management and Control (1990); Managing Public Expenditure (2000), From Accounting to Accountability (2001) and, most recently, Controlling Public Expenditure (2003). He has just completed a study of state level leadership covering all the state and territory leaders — entitled Yes Premier: Labor leadership in Australia’s states and territories — and has edited a book on Westminster Legacies in Asia and the Pacific —Westminster Legacies: Democracy and responsible government in Asia and the Pacific. He was a chief investigator in a major Australian Research Council funded study of the Future of Governance in Australia (1999-2001) involving Griffith and the ANU. His research interests include Australian and comparative politics, public expenditure and budgeting, and government-business relations. He also writes on Australian politics in newspapers such as The Australian, Courier-Mail and The Canberra Times and has been a regular state political commentator on ABC radio and TV. Table of Contents Contributors ix Foreword xi Acknowledgements xiii Chapter 1. A Passion for Policy — Lynelle Briggs 1 Chapter 2. The Dangers of Complacency: The Case for Reforming Fiscal Policy in Australia — Bob McMullan 19 Chapter 3. Beyond Conspicuous Compassion: Indigenous Australians Deserve More Than Good Intentions — Amanda Vanstone 39 Chapter 4. Shaping Opportunities, Creating Public Value: Government and Community Collaboration in the Australian Capital Territory — Jon Stanhope 47 Chapter 5. Twenty-First Century Workforce Demographics and New Challenges for An Egalitarian Society — Sharman Stone 59 Chapter 6. Australia/New Zealand Public Servants: Mates or rivals? — Mark Prebble 67 Chapter 7. Towards a New Era of Strategic Government — Geoff Gallop 75 Chapter 8. Recognising Public Value: The Challenge of Measuring Performance In Government — Mark Moore 91 vii Contributors Lynelle Briggs, Australian Public Service Commissioner Professor Geoff Gallop, Graduate School of Government, University of Sydney The Hon Bob McMullan MP, Shadow Minister for Federal/State Relations, International Development Assistance & Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House Professor Mark Moore, Director, Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University Dr Mark Prebble, State Services Commissioner, New Zealand The Hon Jon Stanhope MLA, Chief Minister for the Australian Capital Territory The Hon Dr Sharman Stone MP, Minister for Workforce Participation Senator Amanda Vanstone, former Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, Australian Ambassador to Italy ix Foreword This is a special collection of papers, representing a range of views about diverse subjects by people whose opinions matter ± not necessarily because they are `right' or `wrong', but because they are, for the most part, in the public eye and, most importantly, because they have the capacity to influence the shape and the reality of public policy. With the exception of Professor Geoff Gallop and Professor Mark Moore, they are not practicing academics. Most, including Geoff Gallop, are either former or serving ministers of state. Two ± Lynelle Briggs and Mark Prebble ± are senior government officials with deep understandings of the historical and contemporary configurations of the public sectors in Australia and New Zealand, respectively. All are vitally concerned with issues of policy development, practice, implementation and performance. Each has a story to tell, with insights that can only be drawn by those working at the `sharp end' of policy. In slightly different ways, all are policy `insiders', and this gives their views special resonance and relevance. Jon Stanhope, Amanda Vanstone, Geoff Gallop, Sharman Stone and Bob McMullan may represent different sides of Australian politics, and they might each champion different views about matters of public policy, but they share the experience of shaping, implementing and defending policy decisions. They understand the `realpolitik' of the policy process better than even the most avid academic commentator on Australian politics. Political realists they may be but, as key actors in the policy process, each has also brought fundamental ideals and values to bear in the formulation of policy. Lynelle Briggs and Mark Prebble are, respectively, influential in their own right in the national public sectors of Australia and New Zealand. In a way, they are the `torch bearers' for the traditional values of public service ± values of impartiality, quality and timeliness. They also operate at the vanguard of emerging public service values and their leadership is essential in ensuring their respective public service cultures adapt positively and constructively to environmental change. They are both experienced professionals who work in a profoundly political `industry' and, therefore, what they do is, in a sense, imbued with politics. Mark Moore, as many will agree, is in a class of his own in such illustrious company. Mark has never been a politician, in the conventional sense of the word. Instead, he is an academic of considerable influence whose ideas have captured the attention and interest of politicians and bureaucrats in his native America and abroad. It is the force of his ideas ± his reshaping of the traditional or orthodox narrative of public policy and public service ± rather than the nature xi A Passion for Policy of his office, that wields influence. I believe the full extent of that influence has yet to be realised. I trust that readers will be provoked, intrigued, challenged (and never bored) by this important collection of ideas. The ANZSOG Public Lecture series provides a unique and important opportunity for people of influence to share their thoughts and impressions in a public forum. This and future collections of ANZSOG public lectures will ensure that their thoughts will reach an even wider audience. Professor John Wanna Sir John Bunting Chair of Public Administration ANZSOG, ANU xii Acknowledgements The title of this monograph is taken from the public lecture presented by the Australian Public Service Commissioner, Ms Lynelle Briggs, in mid-2005. Her speech resonated with many other officials and other professionals and, over the next few months, her message was cited and repeated in various fora. Her words capture the flavour of these topical public lectures. The Australia and New Zealand School of Government commenced an annual series of public lectures in February 2005. These were held in Canberra at the Academy of Science. The aim of the lecture series is to make serious intellectual contributions to the direction of public policy and public sector management. In commissioning speakers we intend to strengthen the dialogue between academics and practitioners especially in relation to forthcoming challenges and research agendas. The lectures provide distinguished speakers and opinion-shapers with the opportunity to provoke and stimulate their audiences and present a case for change, reform or renewal. All the lectures in this series were delivered with a strong sense of purpose and conviction. Because of this, the lectures are not only informative and persuasive but also stimulate ongoing debate and continuing dialogue. In organising these lectures we wish to thank the Academy of Science and the Political Science Program at the Research School of Social Sciences, The Australian National University. The lecture series was organised by ANZSOG staff including Susan Hanson, Jenny Keene, Victoria Redfern, Mary Hapel, Shellaine Godbold, and John Butcher. Postgraduates
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