Redrawing the line in the public interest – The Select Committee

Where is the boundary between senior civil servants’ designated public duty and party-political tasks? The Mandarin Brains Trust discusses.

Where should senior public servants and political staffers draw the line? That is the question we have put to members of The Select Committee – The Mandarin Brains Trust.

More specifically:

Where is the boundary between their designated public duty and the apparent expectation by some ministers that it’s ok for public funds to be spent on political objectives like garnering votes for pre-selections or funding programs skewed to marginal seats?

There are many examples from Australian governments — federal and state — where public servants have been pressured (bullied even) into acting in party-political ways.