The Coalition's negative and ill-conceived response to the news the APS workforce has grown by almost 10 per cent since the Albanese government took office would not have come as a surprise to anybody.
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The LNP, after all, has a long history of dog-whistling up support in the regions by attacking the so-called "fat cats" ensconced in their ivory towers in Canberra doing God knows what for far too much money.
One would have thought that most Australians, who frequently complain about delays in accessing Centrelink or Medicare, or who are having trouble finding somebody to take their call in the ATO, would have woken up to this furphy by now.
The APS is a vital national resource. More than a fifth - or 38,000 - of the total number of public servants work directly in service delivery. Most of those are employed outside of Canberra.
It is telling that while opposition "targeting government waste" czar James Stevens was quick to slam the growth in numbers he appears to have neglected to mention more than 5000 of the new roles created were for service delivery. That accounts for almost a third of the total increase of 16,000 positions overall.
The opposition also seems coy when it comes to talking about the "creation" of 3000 "new" roles by converting individuals from labour hire and consultancy contracts to the status of APS employees.
Everybody in Canberra would know many individuals who, during the Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison years, found themselves trapped in a revolving door of short-term contracts.
While some benefited from being better remunerated, they didn't know if they would have a job once their contract ended. Some found it almost impossible to obtain a home loan because they didn't have a guaranteed income.
The Coalition's credibility in this space is non-existent. This is the party that spent $20.8 billion on an external workforce of 54,000 roles in the 2021-22 financial year.
Figures compiled by the Albanese government indicate the Morrison government was spending one in every four dollars of "public service" related expenditure on externally sourced labour.
Labor deserves to be given credit for following through on its commitment to rebuilding an APS that has been hollowed out for almost a decade.
It intends to develop a more robust and independent APS staffed by competent subject-matter experts who can bring a corporate memory to their roles. This is in stark contrast to the Coalition which was more interested in recruiting consultants who, knowing on what side their bread was buttered, told their political masters what they wanted to hear.
The gulf separating the current government from the opposition is perhaps best illustrated by the latest anti-Canberra outburst from the former pork-barreller-in-chief, Barnaby Joyce.
The APS is, according to Mr Joyce, a "fifth column" of saboteurs who believe the ACT is the navel of the world: "Public servants have this belief they're entitled to live in Canberra and nowhere else, which is an incredibly patronising attitude to regional Australia," he said.
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Really? Canberra is the national capital. It is the seat of government. It is not unreasonable to expect it to be home to a large chunk of the APS, including its senior leaders.
Mr Joyce showed his true colours when, as deputy prime minister, he rewarded himself by forcing the relocation of the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Authority to Armidale in his own electorate.
That has turned out to be a disaster. Mr Joyce's latest attempt to blame others for the consequences of his pork barrelling is just more of the same.
