‘Overpaid political hacks’: Public trust lost over jobs for mates

Australians fear the federal government is appointing “overpaid political hacks” to plum public service jobs and have lost faith in its capacity to make independent appointments, according to a long-hidden report that Labor released more than two years after it was finished.

The Albanese government said it would introduce a “framework” for politically linked appointments to senior positions, but it has rejected several other recommendations in the review of Canberra’s “jobs-for-mates” culture by former public service commissioner Lynelle Briggs.

Successive governments have been criticised for their public service and diplomatic appointments, but the review ordered by the Albanese government in 2023 was limited to examining board appointments, not plum postings or high-profile jobs.

Labor’s long-delayed response was condemned by integrity experts, independent MPs and the Coalition as insufficient, with one MP saying a “culture of cronyism” would continue.

The Briggs review found that between 6 and 7 per cent of board appointments were political in nature, that half were direct appointments by ministers, and that people were kept in roles even when they did not appear capable.

Briggs wrote in her report that “hardly anyone seems to be happy with the current system”.

“Ministers are frustrated that officials seem unable to deliver new talent and high-quality fields in a timely manner, and that they are often advised to reappoint people whose capabilities are uncertain,” she wrote.

“Public trust has been undermined to such an extent by the level of direct appointments in recent years that people fear that they are being landed with overpaid political hacks who cannot do these important jobs properly and that some of these bodies may not be operating in the public interest.”

The review recommended new laws to enforce independent standards for selecting board members, with “fair and open recruitment processes” except in exceptional circumstances under the discretion of the prime minister.

Politicians and their staffers should be barred from holding government board positions within six months of leaving their roles, and 18 months for those previously working in ministerial portfolios, the review recommended. It also recommended stopping making appointments within six months of a federal election.

“Briggs explicitly recommended the need for legislative response,” said UNSW Professor Gabrielle Appleby, research director at the Centre for Public Integrity, adding that exemptions from the rules were “hugely problematic”.

“There’s an exemption for whenever the prime minister agrees there should be an exemption. That’s a pretty big discretion.”

Independent senator David Pocock, who forced the government to release the report by orchestrating a revolt in the Senate last month, said on Tuesday it was clear why the government had sat on the report for two years.

“It is no surprise there is such low trust in politicians. Communities constantly call for more integrity but are ignored,” he said.

Independent MP Sophie Scamps said unless new laws were passed, “it’s unlikely this culture of cronyism will change”.

“They’re not walking their talk on the jobs-for-mates culture at all.”

The Albanese government has given dozens of people with ties to Labor, including from within the prime minister’s own team of staffers, public service and diplomatic roles since coming to government. This masthead does not suggest any of the appointments were not made on merit, just that they are Labor figures.

Some diplomatic positions have traditionally been political picks, including the ambassador to the United States – currently former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd – and former South Australian premier Jay Weatherill, newly appointed to the role as high commissioner to the UK.

Other appointments, meanwhile, including former state Labor MP Mike Kaiser’s as the climate change department secretary, and Albanese advisor Kathy Klugman as director-general of the Office of National Intelligence, have raised eyebrows.

Albanese was accused of hypocrisy and undermining national security after he hand-picked Klugman, who had been his office’s chief foreign policy advisor before taking on the role in October.

Pocock said government-affiliated picks could be the right ones for the job, but without a merit-based appointment process, it was impossible to know.

“If everyone knew what the criteria was, knew how someone got appointed, you’d go, okay, cool, they’ve gone through the process, and you may not fully agree with who gets the job, but you know that at least it’s a merit-based appointment.”

Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher defended the government’s response, saying it was an improvement on the existing system.

Opposition public service spokesperson James Paterson told Gallagher in a Senate inquiry on Monday that the release of the report to select journalists was “pretty cynical”.

“I think it speaks volumes to the government’s approach to transparency and scrutiny … You made much of that in the last couple of elections,” Paterson told Gallagher before a Senate inquiry on Monday.

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