Tag Archive for: "parliament"
Reader response: straddling the divide

As someone who has straddled the public servant/ministerial adviser divide I found that the first two parts of Graeme Dobell’s series on the Canberra Minder caused me to reflect on my own experience. During my …

The birth of the Canberra Minder

The Canberra ministerial adviser—the Minder—was born on 5 December 1972, when Gough Whitlam became Prime Minister. Like much that Whitlam did, the birth was attended by high purpose, low politics and scrambling. The short, tumultuous …

The Canberra Minder

The Canberra ministerial adviser—the Minder—is 43 years young. The Minder is the strongest new creation of Oz politics, often more important than the public service in the way policy and politics gets done. The idea …

Support advisers to support policy

Policy reform in Australia has slowed so much that institutional causes should be considered. The effectiveness of the political adviser needs some thought because they touch most of the messages, reactions, decisions, budgets, policies and …