Why have we raced to appoint a Fuels Tzar to manage the “crisis”? It’s not that we haven’t had warning or been here before. We do not have a plan to distribute fuel from import terminals to end users, particularly in regional areas. Now is not the time to debate fuel rationing. The triggers, processes…
First published in The Mandarin (18 February 2026) I was taken by the recent speech of the Secretary of PM&C’s words reporting Kennedy: Flexibility needed for uncertainty in a dangerous world “Efforts around the world by authoritarians to control information and politicise data underscore the need for the public service to value transparency, honesty and…
First published in The Mandarin 9 February 2026 The Digital Transformation Agency has released the strategic review of the whole of Australian government single seller arrangements (SSAs). The review, by IT consultancy SolsticeIT, found the arrangements delivered the government “significant value for money” – more than $1.6 billion. $1.6bn is savings? No! To be fair,…
Here we go again. Both sides of politics claim they want an independent, high-performing APS. Yet neither side can resist the urge to interfere, and the APS leadership seems to continually tread the path of least resistance. The latest is the reported forming by the APSC of a consultative committee with representatives from 11 unions,…
First published in The Mandarin 26 March 2025 AI, and all that I fear “It’s too new. It’s just guessing. I don’t know how it works. It’s just a probabilistic word generator. It’s taking my job. I don’t know how to use it”, These are a few of the reasons raised at a recent Australian…
As published in the Mandarin 21 March 2025: Why generalists ARE specialists Firstly, congratulations to The Mandarin on their conference last week. It is one of the better conferences I have attended because they had the courage to allow competing ideas to be put forward. It was a bit unusual, the norm being a passing…
It’s on again, politicians throwing stones at each other over the public sector. One side says too many and the other says too few. It’s an argument designed to score points politically, to play to the leanings of the electorate. One is either for or against the public sector. You either think it to be…
It’s the scout’s creed “Do Your Best”, but sometimes doing your best just isn’t good enough. As published in The Mandarin 4 December 2024.https://www.themandarin.com.au/282939-veteran-suicide-when-doing-your-best-isnt-good-enough/ Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles and Australian Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Matt Keogh. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch) When I was asked if I would like to write…
As published in The Mandarin December 3, 2024 by Kiah MD John Glenn If I had realised this when I first started out my life would have been much easier – everywhere! I would have got more of what I wanted to achieve with much less angst. At home, at school, at work – did…
As published in The Mandarin November 1, 2024 by Kiah MD John Glenn Most of us have to get stuff done – at least at work! For some, it’s simply done by managing a process. Start at the beginning, work through the process, end up with an outcome. For most who read this, life is…
