Our publication ‘State of the Australian Public Service: An Alternative Report’ and all related media and commentary

Why Australia DOESN’T need Public Service Cuts | James Whelan

James Whelan – “Most Australians support government exercising an active role in society and the economy…” With the Federal Government expected to announce major spending cuts as part of its mid-year economic forecast, debate on the size and role of the public sector has reignited. CPD’s James Whelan argues that the community does not support drastic cuts to public services. Below is his response to Institute for Public Affairs Director Julie Novak’s call for savage … more

James Whelan | Debating the PS Burden: A View From Both Sides

Public sector budgeting issues have come into focus as the government stands by its purely political commitment to run a surplus next year in the face of strong economic arguments that suggest a continued deficit. So is the Public Serivce bloated, inefficient and unnecessary or stretched, effective and in high demand? The ongoing debate between IPA contributor Julie Novak and CPD Public Service Research Director Dr. James Whelan and  has been picked up as a … more

 

James Whelan | Attitudes toward our Public Services

James Whelan, Public Service Research Program Director, recently wrote an article for Government News discussing the newly published CPD paper entitled State of the Public Service Report. Within this article for Government News James discusses the big questions debated around the Australian Public Service including: Are there enough or too many public servants in Australia? Are public service agencies and the services they provide meeting the Australian public expectations? And do Australians feel they are adequately investing … more

Visualisation of CPD’s ‘State of the Public Service’ report

Following the launch of CPD’s ‘State of the Australian Public Service’ report, we convened roundtable discussions in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra. The presentation shared with roundtable participants is now available here in a user-friendly visual format. (Once the page loads, click on ‘more’ then choose ‘autoplay’ or ‘fullscreen’.)                                          

James Whelan | Public Sector Myths Dispelled

CPD’s public service program director James Whelan talks with Business Spectator about our recent State of the Australian Public Service Alternative Report. Public sector cutbacks are an easy political gain, until the services they provided disappear. What lies behind the apparent dichotomy between what the press and politicians say and what the public think?  Click here to listen to the interview in full.                         … more

 

Public sector cuts will hurt in times of crisis

Premier Barry O’Farrell communicated his intentions before the state election: we could expect to see fewer ‘‘back room bureaucrats’’ but rest assured that this wouldn’t mean fewer public servants to deliver ‘‘frontline’’ services like health, education and policing. In developing this platform, the Premier took advice from John Howard’s adviser Max ‘‘the axe’’ Moore-Wilton, who described the NSW public service as “a mess” and urged “real surgery”. The NSW Coalition is following a well-worn Liberal … more

Public Service (and CPD) in Australian Parliament 12 September

Dr LEIGH (Fraser) (21:12): I rise to speak in praise of public sector workers in the ACT and throughout Australia. It was my pleasure recently to attend a roundtable discussion hosted by Slater and Gordon Canberra and the Centre for Policy Development, the topic of which to be discussed was a new report by the CPD authored by Dr James Whelan. The report which is titled The state of the Australian Public Service: an alternative … more

James Whelan | The Drum

We often hear about ‘trimming the fat’ in the public service but is there enough thought behind this popular phrase? CPD public service program research director Dr. James Whelan joined panellists Tim Wilson, Andrew Clennell and Scott Stephens on ABC’s The Drum on Monday night to discuss the findings of our new study The State of the Australian Public Service: An Alternate Report. The study found that despite an increase of in Australia’s population of … more