The Westminster Tradition - 14. The Grinch that stole Christmas

14. The Grinch that stole Christmas

10/16/23 • 36 min

Christmas leave plays an outsize role in Robodebt. Danielle takes us through some of the questions raised about Christmas leave, including who holds the can when people are on leave, and how 'hovering' while you're on leave can confuse and disempower.
She also makes a case that government should never, ever shut down over Christmas, because our work never ends.
Meanwhile, Alison gives another excellent life hack - this time about taking work emails off your phone on leave.
As promised in the episode, here is Commissioner Holmes' finding about what happened to the requested legal advice: "The Commission finds that Ms Campbell instructed DHS officers to cease the process of responding to Mr Jackson’s request for advice, motivated by a concern that the unlawfulness of the Scheme might be exposed to the Ombudsman in the course of its investigation." (see page 189)
This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be.
Intro grab features Commissioner Holmes and Ms Annette Musolino, 30 January 2023.
Later grab features Mr Derek Greggery KC and Ms Kathryn Campbell, 7 March 2023.

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].
Thanks to PanPot audio for our intro and outro music.
'Til next time!

Previous Episode

13. Pink Batts and Robodebt - lessons not learned

In September 2014, at the very moment DHS invents Robodebt, the APS receives a frank assessment of its limitations in the form of the Final Report Home Insulation Program Royal Commission.
In this episode, a review of the 'pink batts' Royal Commission report shows the key failings that recur.
Why is it so hard as a public servant to say 'we can't do this in the time allowed?'
How should generalists respond when asked to engage in technical subject matter that we don't understand?
And once again, how do we ensure collegiality doesn't lead to group think and unwillingness to raise risks?
You can find the Final Report of the Home Insulation Program Royal Commission here, and the comments about public servant testimony on page 13.
This podcast was recorded on Kaurna land, and we recognise Kaurna elders past and present. Always was, always will be.
Intro grab features Mr Chris Birrer and Commissioner Catherine Holmes, 7 November 2023.

Next Episode

15. Behavioural insights in Robodebt: at last, an argument!

In this episode, Danielle and Alison bring the conflict on their views of behavioural insights. Danielle thinks it's a revelation that government started thinking about its customers and what works for them. Alison thinks it's oversold, and not always deployed in the interests of the people. Caroline wonders if we can all just get along.
Ultimately, the listeners win.
References from the episode include: