James Riley
Thursday, 13 August 2009 16:01
IT Policy -
Government Tech Policy
Page 1 of 2
As part of the biggest reshuffle of public service Mandarins in a decade, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has appointed a senior Victorian bureaucrat Peter Harris to take the reins of the department of Broadband Communications and the Digital Economy.
As secretary of the Victorian Department of Sustainability and the
Environment, Harris was responsible for driving the state’s
desalination plant – the largest infrastructure project in Victoria. He
has previously held Commonwealth public service roles, including as
deputy secretary of the Department of Transport and Regional Services.
“Mr Harris has the requisite experience and skills to lead his new
department in its dealings with complex policy issues, such as
telecommunications reform, vital to Australia’s long-term national
interest,” Mr Rudd said in a statement.
The Prime Minister confirmed also that out-going DBCDE secretary
Patricia Scott would join the Productivity Commission as a full-time
commissioner on the recommendation of Treasurer Wayne Swan. The move was
flagged by iTWire earlier today.
The other change critical to the ICT sector is at the Department of
Finance and Deregulation, where Mr Rudd has replaced the long-serving
Dr Ian Watt with a current associate secretary from his own Department
of Prime Minister and Cabinet, David Tune.
The extremely well-regarded Dr Watt, who has been Finance secretary
since 2001, becomes the secretary of Defence, presumably as part of the
new broom that started with the appointment of Defence Minister John
Faulkner and aims to deliver procurement cost savings – and to deliver
complex ICT projects as part of the Defence White Paper goals.
Tune has worked in the Australian Public Service for about 30 years and
held numerous roles. Most recently he held responsibility for the
Domestic Policy Unit inside the PM’s department.
Other top-level changes include Human Services, Foreign Affairs, the Public Service Commission, and the Child Support Agency.
Of all the changes, Patricia Scott’s is most interesting, if only
because of the perceived differences between secretary and Minister,
as well as the sheer size of the NBN project - which hasn’t yet seen a trench
dug or fibre cable laid.
In an email to all DBCDE staff, Scott said the five years at the
department – and before than Human Services – had provided a “wealth of
opportunities and challenges”
“I am certainly proud of what we have accomplished, both in terms of
developing and implementing government policy and also within the
Department itself,” Ms Scott said.
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy thanked Scott for “guiding me
through the challenging process of transition to Government,
implementing new policy and the mysteries of Cabinet processes.”
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