Discontent has bubbled to the surface within the Australian Taxation Office, where staff voted up their enterprise agreement last week.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The small but vocal union for Tax Office staff has accused the main public sector union of a "scare campaign" against its push for a better pay deal.
The vote signalled an endorsement of the Albanese government's 11.2 per cent pay offer, but support was lacklustre compared to the other major agencies.
In the Tax Office, 76.87 per cent of staff voted "yes" on their agreement, compared to 97.1 per cent in Home Affairs.
The Australian Services Union - which represents about 1000 Tax Office staff - had encouraged staff to vote "no" on the agreement, eager to reach a better pay deal by getting the Fair Work Commission involved.
But the ASU was overruled by the Community and Public Sector Union, which opted out of any "no" vote campaigns.
"The CPSU effectively created concern amongst staff about the ASU's approach," ASU branch secretary Jeff Lapidos wrote to staff, in an email seen by Public Eye.
"They said we would lose workplace rights if the [Fair Work Commission] arbitrated our pay claim."
The discontent stems back to Tax Office bureaucrats missing out on pay rises between 2013 and 2017, when bargaining broke down, and staff voted down multiple agreements.
The ASU - which has about 1000 members in the Tax Office - is well-organised, but can't compete with the might of the CPSU, which had more than 40,000 members across the public service at the last count.
While the unions seem to get on most of the time, the CPSU's focus on a good deal service-wide, has left some ASU members feeling short changed.
"The other significant impression the CPSU created was that everyone would be able to work from home as much as they wished if the staff approved of the agreement," Mr Lapidos wrote.
"This is clearly not the case. But when your finances are very tight, it is very easy to believe what you hope will be the case, that you will be able to save the cost and time of commuting between home and work."
(The new agreement enforces a bias on approving flexible working requests, so long as they suit business needs).
But the CPSU's national secretary Melissa Donnelly stood firm, saying the union gave members "clear and honest information about the pay and conditions package".
"And more than three-quarters of staff voted to accept it," she said.
"More than half of APS employees have now voted on their agency's proposed pay and conditions, with all ballots successful and very strong support from employees."
Mr Lapidos made sure to sign off his email with an attached membership form for the ASU - pick your fighter.
Gorman's shoutout to the 'heart of the APS'
Patrick Gorman is hitting the road on his first public service tour.
The Assistant Public Service Minister is headlining the State of the Service Roadshow in March - apparently a favourite event of APS nerds.
He'll launch the series of talks on March 1 in Perth, but will pop up at Canberra's QT on March 5, in front of 500 keen bureaucrats.
The new(ish) Assistant Minister had a special shoutout for Canberra bubble residents, recognising the national capital is home to 38.1 per cent of the service.
"Canberra is a city built on the concept of public service and it is the heart of our APS," he said.
"But that doesn't mean face-to-face engagement is any less important here.
"Since taking on the role of Assistant Minister for the Public Service in May last year, I have visited public servants across the country.
"I have heard first hand that commitment to service, across our country."
Health pulled up on Primary Health Networks
The national audit office has turned its attention to the Health and Aged Care Department again, this time calling out its failure to properly evaluate the Primary Health Networks in recent years.
While the ANAO found that the department has been "partly effective" in its performance management, it had failed to demonstrate that the PHN model is achieving its objectives (which revolve around improving the effectiveness, efficiency, coordination and access of health services).
PHNs are non-government organisations funded through Australian government grants, established by the Health Department back in July 2015. Since then, the department has committed $11.6 billion to PHNs in grant funding.
The audit office found that the department had a fit-for-purpose plan to evaluate the PHN model up until 2017, but had no evaluation plans for after 2018 "despite a departmental evaluation strategy which indicates the importance of ongoing program monitoring" for programs like this.
"The PHN delivery model has not been comprehensively evaluated to determine whether it is meeting its objectives," the report, published last week, said.
The report made eight recommendations, including developing an evaluation plan for the PHN model, of which the department agreed to seven. Health agreed in principle to the eighth recommendation of implementing a fit-for-purpose IT system to help capture PHN compliance and performance information.
ScoMo farewells public servants
Here's a name you haven't heard in a while - Phil Gaetjens.
Former prime minister, Scott Morrison, had some kind words for public servants - including the former Prime Minister and Cabinet head - as he farewelled Federal Parliament last week.
"To those who supported me from the public service as a minister, treasurer and prime minister, thank you," Mr Morrison said - encompassing quite a range of people with that reference to "minister".
"Thank you to Phil Gaetjens, who was the head of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, but, particularly, thank you also to Professor Brendan Murphy and Professor Paul Kelly, who became well-known figures."
Defence top brass got special mentions too - including department secretary Greg Moriarty, Chief of the Defence Force General Angus Campbell and Lieutenant-General John Frewen.
"Thank you for all you did to help me secure AUKUS," Mr Morrison said.
"When I left the job after the last election, when we lost, I remember saying to them, 'Now, please don't stuff it up,' which they are not, together with the Minister for Defence."
Highway to Health
Canberra, Are You Ready? There's a new ACDC in town (almost).
The Canberra Times reported on Monday that the push is on to get the federal government to base its promised Australian Centre for Disease Control in the nation's capital.
In what is no dirty deed, the office of independent ACT senator David Pocock even have taken it upon themselves to mock up a logo for the possible centre.
The design pays homage to rock legends AC/DC, but replaces the iconic lighting bolt slash with the silhouette of Canberra's Telstra Tower (which, if you squint, almost looks like a vaccine needle). Maybe that's a Touch Too Much.
Palm reading
Last week, one of our sharp-eyed snappers during question time caught a close-up of independent MP Bob Katter's hand which, inked with what appeared to be talking notes, resembled that of a student entering a closed-book exam.
While the notes are difficult to make out, they appear to include reference to "$120", "give back", and something about "Brazil".
Naturally, we had questions: what did all these notes mean? And how did Mr Katter manage to write so much down on one palm without it smudging everywhere?
While Mr Katter's office couldn't help us decipher the handwriting, he himself did give us some insight as to why he likes to treat his palm like paper.
"Not that I want to denigrate anyone else in Parliament, but the fact is it's unlikely any of them have done any hard physical work,' Mr Katter said.
"I have, and that's why my hands provide a solid platform like a notebook. So really, it's no different to a notebook for me."
Secretary correspondence
Last week, Public Eye pondered which Canberra establishments the Agriculture boss Adam Fennessy enjoyed while in town.
Mr Fennessy has written in to set the public record straight - he prefers Tiger Lane at Canberra Centre, we hear.
Over to you
- Got a tip for us?
- ps@canberratimes.com.au