About the author Bernard Keane is the politics editor at Crikey based in Canberra. He was formerly a senior public servant in various federal departments. Follow Bernard Keane
Nuclear explosion of taxpayer money as Morrison trashes sub policy Thursday September 16, 2021 By Bernard Keane Defence Having already wasted $2 billion, the government has gone back to square one on a local build of nuclear submarines.
Premium Columnists The benefits of partnership far outweigh any costs if we’re committed to Closing The Gap Tuesday August 31, 2021 By Bernard Keane Culture If Closing the Gap's Implementation Plan is carried out, there’ll be no more Canberra-centrism, but a genuine shift to partnership with Indigenous groups.
Premium Columnists Critical thinking required in the face of political chaos Tuesday August 17, 2021 By Bernard Keane Australian Capital Territory The replacements for the APS have hardly covered themselves in glory. A recurring pattern seems to be risk assessment and management.
That creaking, groaning sound you hear is our federation cracking under great stress Monday August 16, 2021 By Bernard Keane Australian Capital Territory Australia's federation is more disjointed than at any time in recent decades, relying more on state leaders than federal ones.
Should the unvaccinated be left behind — if their stupidity isn’t their fault? Thursday August 5, 2021 By Bernard Keane Editors' Picks If those refusing a COVID vaccine do so because they've embraced a world view created by economic uncertainty, does society owe them anything beyond their…
Premium Columnists Ensuring the public service is completely compliant risks the quality of independent work Tuesday August 3, 2021 By Bernard Keane Editors' Picks The public service now publishes less work and once-useful series of independent reports, and speeches from Treasury have been abandoned.
John Daley’s parting gift should be read by every senior public servant, staffer, journalist and minister Monday July 26, 2021 By Bernard Keane Editors' Picks Instead of simply complaining about the lack of good reform over the last decade, one of Australia's best public policy thinkers has taken a serious…
Premium Columnists Where to for our best and brightest? Tuesday July 20, 2021 By Bernard Keane Editors' Picks A look at the failures of the vaccine rollout, and more, suggests that Canberra might no longer be on the radar of our most talented…
Working from home could be a radical reform, or productivity disaster. We should be finding out Monday July 12, 2021 By Bernard Keane Australian Capital Territory We're strangely uninterested in what happens if large numbers of workers work from home. Meantime, vested interests are trying to influence policies.
Premium Columnists The blatant nature of the car parks pork-barrelling is plainly embarrassing Monday July 5, 2021 By Bernard Keane Editors' Picks Across the public service, election commitments must be implemented come what may, even the car ports bork-barrelling one, writes Bernard Keane.
Premium Columnists What a spectacular failure of infrastructure policy is Inland Rail Tuesday June 22, 2021 By Bernard Keane Editors' Picks While overlooked in the big fiscal numbers of the pandemic era and dwarfed in scale by the submarines debacle, the Inland Rail project has, very…
Premium Columnists Public service has a role in ensuring transparency of government Monday June 7, 2021 By Bernard Keane Career Matters Is there anything the Australian Public Service can do to restore faith in government and display a commitment to integrity and transparency itself?…
Premium Columnists Is the public service ready for a new era of big, interventionist government? Monday May 24, 2021 By Bernard Keane Editors' Picks Outsourcing has resulted in a learned helplessness that has come back to bite the government in the backside on the vaccine rollout and in aged…
Premium Columnists Not one, but two elections: government’s cash splash is designed to keep Liberals in power for years to come Wednesday May 12, 2021 By Bernard Keane Economy & Industry The government has embraced the truth of who it really is: the Liberals are all about big spending and big government.
Federal Budget 2021: Goodbye debt, farewell deficits — and welcome to BigGov Land Tuesday May 11, 2021 By Bernard Keane Economy & Industry The Morrison government has committed Australia to an era of big government stretching into the 2030s, with a long-term rise in spending in key areas.
