The Government and the Independents have combined to completely debauch the Public Service. The Westminster Tradition is that the Public Service advises the Minister of the day who is accountable to Parliament. It is not available to advise anyone else.

So what is this nonsense about it advising the Independents before a Government has even been formed. Worse still, why is the Treasury being asked to adjudicate on who has the better costing of its policy proposals, Labor or the Coalition?. It looks very much as if under the terms defined by the Independents that the Public Service is being asked to adjudicate on who is better placed to form Government.

This not something that the Public Service should be involved in for the following reasons:

• 1.     It automatically politicises the public service. If it chooses one side it loses the trust of the other.
  
• 2.     An individual Department may suborn the interests of a competitor Department.
  
• 3.     The Public Service is accountable to Ministers not individual members. If there is no Government then it should not be providing information to any member
  

Procedurally if the independents had wanted information from the Public Service they should have approached the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and requested it. The Sec PM&C should have sought information from the Treasury and then supplied it to the Independents without contact with officials from the Treasury.

As it is the “New Paradigm” seems to mean that any member that wants it will have access to the Public Service for the purpose of discussing policy proposals. This will result in a chaotic policy free for all.

Let’s hope reason prevails and some sensible conventions are adhered to.