| Business |
Political agendas and public service
DESPITE the regular assurances to the
contrary, the public service is about to be shaken to its roots
once again. Election after election, the most profound
assurances are given that wholesale removal of public servants
will not take place at the behest of the incoming government.
The current Prime Minister repeatedly insisted during the life
of the last government that his administration would not
politicise the public service. The moves that will take place
within that service between now and the November budget session
of the House will be done in the name of converting acting
appointments into permanent contract holders.
The situation where acting appointees sometimes remain in their
positions for years on end has plagued the PNG public service
for years. It is inexcusable and is simply the hidden face of
behind the scenes politicking. Certainly those who have been
deemed fit to hold any of these important positions should be
immediately confirmed as permanent appointees.
But many will not, because their political views do not conform
to the current requirements of the government. This is not a
feature peculiar to the new national government; it has been
obvious since the results of PNG’s first election.
This is a good moment to take a long hard look at the
relationship between politicians and public servants. The aim of
the public service system adopted by PNG is to provide an
uninterrupted pool of expertise that can carry the country
without disturbance through even the bumpiest election.
Public service employment is supposedly career employment. It
would be informative if an academic was to analyse the cost of
training public servants during the past 32 years of PNG
independence. The total figure would certainly defy belief.
PNG has been singularly fortunate; we have attracted a so far
unending level of training aid and education grants.
Scholarships to facilitate the study of a kaleidoscope of
disciplines have rained down upon our nation. Today Papua New
Guineans who either work with the public service or will most
likely do so upon the completion of their studies can be found
throughout the world.
PNG oceanographic students study in Japan and those interested
in maritime careers can be found in Norway. Universities
scattered throughout the USA are host to many PNG students
studying everything from engineering to aviation to religion,
the sciences and specialist medicine.
Australia and New Zealand have been traditional homes for both
secondary and tertiary students for more than half a century.
The majority of these students upon graduation have found
employment with the PNG public service.
At independence and in the years that followed, young men and
women flocked to take up these career opportunities with the new
and growing public service. As foreigners left our shores to
return to their own countries, many promotional opportunities
occurred.
Shortly after independence, young and well-educated Papua New
Guineans began to occupy the most senior positions in many
departments. To work for the public service was to hold a
position of merit. Even at junior levels, new appointees found
they had a standing in the community and standards to uphold.
Sadly, that aura of professionalism was not to last.
Unprincipled politicians saw many honourable public servants as
potential enemies who would act against their personal agendas.
They lost no time in drumming up false charges against them and
having them isolated in the notorious Waigani pool. It did not
take long for the calibre of the public service to nose dive.
And despite repeated assurances form wave after wave of
political leaders, politicisation continued unabated. There have
already been indications that the incoming government will
behave in a similar manner.
One department head has rolled into the waiting basket beneath
the political guillotine. Worse, the anointed replacement has
allegedly displaced more than 40 public servants within the
department concerned and created an industrial backlash.
That appears to be a most unfortunate outcome for the new
government and one that augurs ill for the future. There appears
to be little hope that the public service can regain its lost
reputation or that it will once again become the pre-eminent
professional group of civil servants tasked with the ongoing
implementation of government policies.
 
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