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The Westminster Tradition

The Westminster Tradition
The Westminster Tradition
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  • The Hon Amanda Vanstone AO - Inside the Westminster Machine
    Former Senator Amanda Vanstone offers a masterclass in ministerial leadership, delivering sharp insights from her 21-year political career that are as relevant today as they were during her time in Prime Minister Howard's Cabinet. Cutting through bureaucratic excuses with remarkable clarity, she reveals how effective ministers must take full responsibility while developing practical strategies to uncover what's really happening within their departments.Vanstone's approach to ministerial oversight was refreshingly direct—phoning junior staff who prepared briefs rather than accepting sanitized information from senior executives, making unannounced visits to government-funded programs, and consistently asking "how does that work?" until satisfied with the answers. "You get what you inspect, not what you expect," she notes, emphasizing that accountability requires hands-on leadership.Her frank discussion of major reforms like the creation of Centrelink highlights how structural change requires both political courage and practical problem-solving. When departments maintained separate offices but required them to be within walking distance, she asked the obvious question: "Why not put them together?" This common-sense approach characterized her leadership across Employment, Education, Justice and Immigration portfolios.What stands out most powerfully is Vanstone's perspective on ministerial responsibility. "That's why ministers sign on the bottom line. That's why you get paid," she asserts, rejecting excuses about inherited problems or departmental advice. Her experiences with Immigration Department failures—including the wrongful deportation of Australian citizen Vivian Alvarez—taught her that when you find one serious problem, you must look deeper: "When a mouse runs out of your fridge, you think that's a mouse. When the second one comes a week later, you bring the fridge out and clean it out."Ready for straight talk about how government really works? Listen now to learn why Amanda Vanstone believes we urgently need another National Commission of Audit and how effective ministers must balance scrutiny with support to get the best from public servants.Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.If you want rigorous reporting on Robodebt, we recommend the work of Rick Morton at the Saturday Paper, Chris Knaus and Luke Henriques-Gomes at the Guardian, Ben Eltham at Crikey, Julian Bajkowski at The Mandarin, and of course, the Robodebt Royal Commission itself.Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at [email protected] to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
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  • DOGE or GROSS (Getting Rid of Stupid Stuff) 😩: the touchy subject of efficiency in the public service
    Efficiency is in the news ... but what does it mean? How should public servants work on improving efficiency? Should we be focused on system reform, ending whole entitlements, or nibbling at the edges?How to know what kind of budget savings task you are in - deep restructuring or a cyclical contraction / expansion?Is front line v back office a helpful distinction?When are external reviews helpful, and when do they hurt?What is the role of tech in delivering savings?Referenced in the episodeInstitute for Government's reflections on PM Starmer's Rewiring the State agendaSuzanne Heywood "What does Jeremy think? Jeremy Heywood and the Making of Modern Britain"John Halligan (with Jules Wills) "The Centrelink Experiment"BBC 'Denmark's postal service to stop delivering letters'The NDIS ReviewNow for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.If you want rigorous reporting on Robodebt, we recommend the work of Rick Morton at the Saturday Paper, Chris Knaus and Luke Henriques-Gomes at the Guardian, Ben Eltham at Crikey, Julian Bajkowski at The Mandarin, and of course, the Robodebt Royal Commission itself.Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at [email protected] to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
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  • Picking the Scab of Recruitment - Part 2 'The Employer'
    Surfing a wave of listener feelings about this topic, Danielle takes us through the experience of public service recruitment from the other side.Danielle and Alison argue about the merits of requiring 'in house' recruitment before externally advertising positionsThe role that conservative (perhaps inexpert??) local budget management plays in driving a cycle of vacancies and short term contractsHow complex recruitment processes make the public service less and less like the public we serveEzra Klein's podcast episode In This House, We're Angry When Government FailsThe good, the bad and the ugly of external recruitersNow for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.If you want rigorous reporting on Robodebt, we recommend the work of Rick Morton at the Saturday Paper, Chris Knaus and Luke Henriques-Gomes at the Guardian, Ben Eltham at Crikey, Julian Bajkowski at The Mandarin, and of course, the Robodebt Royal Commission itself.Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at [email protected] to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
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  • 🗳️ Election special 🗳️ Caretaker conventions, IGBs and some 🥳 vox pops 🥳
    The starter's gun has gone on Australia's national elections for 2025 and Parliament has been prorogued.In this episode, former head of Cabinet Office and keeper of the Caretaker Conventions, Alison answers Caroline and Danielle's increasingly pointed questions, and we end with arguing about the importance of formatting.Stay tuned to the end for some fabulous insider advice for managing caretaker period and elections as a public servant. This episode is dedicated to the significant birthday of Sandy Pitcher, a public service legend (read more about her here).Intro grab courtesy of the Hon Nat Cook MP, Minister for Human Services (SA).Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.If you want rigorous reporting on Robodebt, we recommend the work of Rick Morton at the Saturday Paper, Chris Knaus and Luke Henriques-Gomes at the Guardian, Ben Eltham at Crikey, Julian Bajkowski at The Mandarin, and of course, the Robodebt Royal Commission itself.Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at [email protected] to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
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  • Picking the Scab of Recruitment - Part 1 'The Applicant'
    Drawing on overwhelming feedback from our listeners, in this episode we unpack the experience of being recruited into the public sector (or ghosted along the way). Danielle takes us throughWhat goes in Role Descriptions (hint: it shouldn't be slabs of legislation)The madness of defined requirements like 'driving' and 'interstate travel' (and whether Caroline's sister can really change a tyre)Alison's idea of an X factor style button for use in interviews when it's immediately clear this isn't working for anyoneWe finish with a listener description of a mad recruitment process that ends with, you guessed, it, ghosting.Thanks to Mary, our mug winner for this episode, for a great story!Now for some appropriately bureaucratic disclaimers....While we have tried to be as thorough in our research as busy full time jobs and lives allow, we definitely don’t guarantee that we’ve got all the details right.If you want rigorous reporting on Robodebt, we recommend the work of Rick Morton at the Saturday Paper, Chris Knaus and Luke Henriques-Gomes at the Guardian, Ben Eltham at Crikey, Julian Bajkowski at The Mandarin, and of course, the Robodebt Royal Commission itself.Please feel free to email us corrections, episode suggestions, or anything else, at [email protected] to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music. 'Til next time!
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About The Westminster Tradition

Unpacking lessons for the public service, starting with the Robodebt Royal Commission. In 2019, after three years, Robodebt was found to be unlawful. The Royal Commission process found it was also immoral and wildly inaccurate. Ultimately the Australian Government was forced to pay $1.8bn back to more than 470,000 Australians. In this podcast we dive deep into public policy failures like Robodebt and the British Post Office scandal - how they start, why they're hard to stop, and the public service lessons we shouldn't forget.
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