Mike Mrdak

The 47th Parliament has only sat for its first fortnight since the election but the business of government is well underway and the parliamentary program quite packed.

Let’s assume, for the sake of discussing machinery of government, that the mood for change translates to a major overhaul of the suite of portfolios.

After nine years of Coalition government, there are generational problems within the APS that will take an extended period to address.

With election 2022 already getting down and dirty, it is vital for the APS to keep its nose perfectly clean.

The Coalition in government simply cut the APS out of the policy process altogether by handing ever more work to consulting firms.

The drive to reach the top is not just about being close to political power, although that can be shockingly seductive. There’s a characteristic that almost all have in common, writes Verona Burgess.

There are no shortage of theories about the best ways to plan for success. The Mandarin spoke with former department of human services secretary Renée Leon and former DITRC secretary Mike Mrdak about the secrets for setting yourself up for success in 2021.

Two weeks after the US election the world’s model liberal democracy still isn’t sure who its new leader is, and as a contested transition of power threatens the dawn of a new coronavirus response, US institutions–now tested–have seldom looked so vulnerable. This week, The Mandarin asks: what if it happens here? In reality, it already […]