APS dating scene reignited, the Return of the Career Diplomat, and Davis meets up with Codd

The event, which started in the 2000s, was something of an institution in the city and became part of the dating scene for public service grads.

It's been said the drinks were the starting point for a few happy marriages and a few couples chose to wed at Old Parliament House for that reason.

The social and dating scene for APS newbies took a hit with the pandemic, of course. We take it as a positive sign that OPH Friday Night Drinks are returning on October 21, starting 5pm, in the Courtyard Cafe and House of Representatives Courtyard.

Better than a night at Mooseheads, surely?

It can't hurt to chat with a predecessor after taking a new job. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Glyn Davis seems to agree. We hear he was spotted meeting with Hawke-era PM&C secretary Mike Codd at Cafe Constitution, in the National Archives.

The report is they were deep in animated discourse, and that Professor Davis was penning extensive notes.

Mr Codd was known as an able administrator, authoritative, and someone with a good political "nose". He also presided over a major reorganisation of the public service.

We wonder what advice, if any, he gave the new PM&C boss. If those cafe walls could talk.

It's one thing to meet a predecessor for coffee, but another thing altogether to have them in an office down the corridor. What agency boss in Canberra wants that? Very few, we would guess.

It struck us as unusual, not to mention potentially awkward, that a former Australian War Memorial director had been elected the chair of its council.

Yet that's been the situation at the War Memorial, where Brendan Nelson has been council chair since April while his successor Matt Anderson led the popular institution through the next stage of its $550 million expansion.

Any awkwardness - if it existed - will evidently soon pass. It was revealed last week that Dr Nelson had taken a new job with Boeing in London that will bring his time on the War Memorial council to a close later this year.

Career diplomats would have been relieved to hear Foreign Minister Penny Wong announce the new government would reverse the trend under the Coalition of appointing non-public servants to overseas postings.

She announced on Friday that Labor would "rebalance" appointments towards qualified senior officials.

Senator Wong also named six career diplomats newly appointed to lead Australian overseas posts.

Here they are: Simon Twisk (Ambassador to Argentina), Axel Wabenhorst (Ambassador to Egypt), Melissa Kelly (Ambassador to Kuwait), Indra McCormick (Ambassador to Portugal), Tony Huber (Consul-General in Istanbul), and Andrew Goledzinowski (Ambassador to Vietnam).

But, proving a leopard (read: government) can't change its spots too quickly, we note the announcement of a former Labor minister, Stephen Smith, as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom in nearly the same breath as the promise to cut back on those non-public servant postings...

The work's just getting started for public servants auditing myGov, the federal government's service website.

We understand the effort will cut across the public service. Services Australia is housing the secretariat supporting the panel, and has some staff on the project, as does the Digital Transformation Agency, Australian Taxation Office, Department of Finance and PM&C.

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Senior public servant David Hazlehurst is leading the secretariat in its work supporting the panel, which is headed by businessman David Thodey.

On the secretariat leadership team with Mr Hazlehurst is Jordan Hatch, Brendan Moon, Lisa Jansen, and Monita Lal.

They have their work cut out - there's a tight turnaround to report back. Government Services Minister Bill Shorten expects the findings by the end of the year, after announcing the audit last month.

We suspect there'll be some late nights over at the Services Australia offices in Tuggeranong before December.

Pizza order, anyone?

The problem with appointing former politicians to government boards is there are sometimes additional layers of red tape.

Such is the case for those on parliamentary pensions.

National Disability Insurance Agency board members Denis Napthine and Peta Seaton, both appointed by former minister Linda Reynolds and both former state Liberal politicians, would know first-hand.

Remuneration Tribunal president John Conde wrote to the former minister in early March reminding her it was policy that board members receiving an annual parliamentary pension of more than $70,410 should agree to a payment reduction.

If they're appointed as chair, then that limit is doubled to $140,820.

Dr Seaton later responded to Senator Reynolds, confirming she was fine with that decision.

We're not sure what happened with Dr Napthine, a former Victorian premier, as he resigned shortly after Labor's election win.

When you're a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed graduate, you'll do almost anything to get noticed by the big bosses. But would you go so far as to read a 1008-page book?

For the lucky graduates at the Department of Home Affairs there's the option to join 'The Secretary's Book Club', led by departmental head Michael Pezzullo.

This year his book of choice was a lengthy biography of Henry Kissinger (Kissinger: 1923-1968: The Idealist by Niall Ferguson). Documents received under freedom of information laws by our colleague Olivia Ireland show the grads were tasked with reviewing the tome and presenting on how it relates to the work of the department.

Already, we've started placing our bets on what Mr Pezzullo's choice will be for next year's graduates.

Could it be 'The Fellowship of the Ring', the first part of The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien? After all, in a speech about national security Mr Pezzullo once compared Australians to being "like hobbits ... who don't realise how serious the danger is and how much effort and sacrifice it takes our equivalents of Gandalf, Frodo and the rest to defend us".

Although the first part of Tolkien's high fantasy epic is only a light 442 pages.

Whatever the next book is, here's hoping the grads have been able to work out how the Kissinger bio relates to their work as junior policy officers.

What book should Michael Pezzullo choose for grads next year? Do career diplomats make better ambassadors than non-public servants, and when? What are your memories of OPH Friday Night Drinks?

Email us at ps@canberratimes.com.au or send your tips and feedback through the form below.