Canberra Now: New APS chief's journey; and audit to probe ACT road project

We're heading into hotter weather in fits and starts. The temperature will give us a reprieve from the heat yesterday, reaching a high today of 21 degrees with cloud and a small chance of rain.

So what's making headlines in Canberra today?

New public service commissioner Peter Woolcott has flagged he is willing to be flexible in upcoming workplace agreement negotiations with federal bureaucrats, but has backed the policy limiting pay rises for public servants.

Weeks after taking on the role, Mr Woolcott has revealed how the major review of the bureaucracy came about under his former boss Malcolm Turnbull, and has signalled the areas he believes the public service could change.

He spoke to Sally Whyte and I about his journey into the heart of the public service.

Delays and concerns over contract management have reached a tipping point for one of Canberra's largest road projects. The ACT government has called in external auditors to investigate the problems.

Auditors were brought in last month to probe a host of failures to deliver the $31 million stage one of the Gundaroo Drive duplication on time. While the project was meant to be completed by June last year, it is now not expected to be finished until the end of 2018.

The audit was prompted as concerns grew over the government's management and oversight of key contractors, what the government called an "unresponsive contractor" and a series of contract variations and extensions on the project.

Daniel Burdon has the details on this move to learn the cause of the problems.

"You can never forget but the importance of this documented account is that it’s there now and people, when they read it, will make up their own minds based on the evidence."

The former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, infamously knifed before his first term was up and after a thumping victory over a longstanding Coalition government, is reflecting on the past in his latest memoir.

Mr Rudd reveals how the coup unfolded from his perspective, but says his critique is limited to half-a-dozen people.

He spoke to Karen Hardy about the new book.

The warming weather means more than fewer layers and airconditioning for Canberrans. Snakes are also on the move.

The ACT government wants residents to be mindful when out in the bush capital as snakes become more active.

ACT conservator Ian Walker said Canberra was home to eight species of snakes. One of them, eastern brown snakes, are most frequently seen across Canberra from October until March and are highly venomous.

Han Nguyen spoke to him about the beginning of snake season.

If you see a bus decorated in Canberra's iconic bus shelters pull up soon, you may look again.

Transport Canberra has wrapped a bus with the artworks of Trevor Dickinson to coincide with his exhibition at the Canberra Museum and Gallery.

Unveiling the new design, ACT Transport Minister Meegan Fitzharris suggested the government had gone so far as to create its new bus network with the well-known concrete shelters front of mind. But details are yet to be released about the fate of the concrete bus shelters themselves.

Julia Kanapathippillai has the story.