Department of Agriculture

A massive co-ordinated strike today by union members across the Australian public service escalates the service-wide enterprise bargaining dispute that has dragged on for more than two years.

No thanks for former departmental chief Paul Grimes, as Barnaby Joyce takes a final swing by praising his deputy. The government has appointed Daryl Quinlivan as the new Agriculture secretary, following the high-profile departure of Grimes.

Climate change expertise is being lost from the public sector as the government fails to fill board vacancies and departments stop commissioning climate policy modelling from ABARES.

An anonymous public servant lambasted Senator Bill Heffernan’s chairing ability in a letter the committee chair read out at Senate Estimates this morning.

Round up of public sector bits: more executive movements; AFP want role players for their mission scenarios; Finance hands out agency awards for risk management; and more from blogs around the public sector and research space.