Political and public service integrity lies in ruins with little chance things will change

Raymond Veitch writes: The report on this disgusting example of miscreant government practice (“Robodebt: illegal, unfair, cruel and the product of Morrison falsehoods”) does not address the elephant in the room: the pernicious and insidious politicisation of the senior levels of the public service.

Gone are the days of “fearless and independent” advice to ministers. A department head who does not tell the minister what he or she wants to hear will not last long, and department heads know it. It’s so common there’s even a term for it – it’s known as “a career-threatening event” — which tells you all you need to know.