Labor is being criticised for continuing to allow a minister to hand-pick cushy public sector appointments despite an independent process being recommended to stamp out jobs for mates.
Former public service commissioner Lynelle Briggs called for an end to cronyism and nepotism by ministers who appoint political allies to public sector boards.
Her review to strengthen the integrity of appointments was commissioned by Finance Minister Katy Gallagher in 2023 after she accused the former coalition government of overseeing a “jobs for mates” culture.
The review, titled No Favourites, found the coalition and Labor have appointed friends of the government to boards, either as a reward for past loyalty or to “ensure alignment with government priorities”.
“They have let down the Australian people, undermined the integrity and effectiveness of the public sector and exposed ministers to unnecessary risk,” she said in her report released on Tuesday after being handed to the government two years ago.
Even though only six to seven per cent of all board appointments could be described as political, as many as half were direct appointments by the minister without any formal appointment process, Ms Briggs found.
That raised a public perception all ministerial appointments were political and “contributed to a climate where public trust in government has been undermined”.
Ms Briggs noted the practice did not contravene legislation but the processes were unfit for purpose and recommended placing it at arm’s length of ministers by legislating consistent, independent standards for recruitment.
Politicians and staffers should be banned from being appointed within six months of leaving government positions and ministers should not be allowed to make direct appointments six months before an election, she advocated.
“Such bequests in the dying days of a government are shameless, are widely frowned upon by the public and bring governments into disrepute,” she said.
But Labor has snubbed the key recommendations and instead released a seven-point framework that includes principles and guidance for making appointments.
Ministers will retain the power to appoint people without an independent selection process in conjunction with their department or open tender and won’t have to formally justify why an appointment is made.
“It provides some flexibility, knowing the breadth of different appointments that happen,” Senator Gallagher said.
The framework acknowledged that while the minister should be transparent about their selection, this could come in the form of information being included in a media release and no formal justification for hand-picking an appointment has to be made.
A minister would only need to use an independent assessment panel to identify the best candidate “when appropriate and proportionate”.
“Ministers should be transparent about, and be prepared to publicly justify, the appointments they make or recommend be made, and any process they implement in connection with those appointments,” according to the framework.
Senator Gallagher also rejected the need to legislate the framework, saying it wouldn’t add anything.
In a heated exchange during a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday, Greens senator Barbara Pocock said there would be no repercussions for not abiding by the framework.
But Senator Gallagher said ministers were accountable to the public and the consequences were “how the public judge you”.
The government had done the Australian people a disservice by failing to adopt the full suite of recommendations, the Centre for Public Integrity’s Catherine Williams said.
Sophie Scamps, who introduced a private member’s bill to stamp out crony culture by mandating an independent appointment process, said the government’s response fell well short of expectations.
“Unless these reforms are enshrined into law it’s unlikely this culture of cronyism will change,” the independent MP said.
Australian Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national newswire and has been delivering accurate, reliable and fast news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We keep Australia informed.
