![An artist's impression of the Tax Office's planned new offices in Barton. Picture supplied An artist's impression of the Tax Office's planned new offices in Barton. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/36i7SKuzkApKRqnK2hWiW9n/a54ad3b6-1d16-4304-bf4b-2b74dfabce24.jpg/r0_256_2508_1672_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Sometimes the rumours are true. Turns out the recent whisperings in property circles about the Australian Taxation Office's next lease were bang on the money.
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The ATO's signing of a lucrative $323 million lease for 15 years means its staff are Barton bound in 2025, leaving behind the agency's offices on Genge Street and Narellan Street in Civic.
So what awaits them in their new home suburb? We understand the new building at 15 Sydney Avenue will have its own cafe. But there will be no more quick trips to Canberra Centre. The nearest shops are 15 minutes' walk away in Manuka and Kingston, or five minutes by car.
That's if staff can get a park in Barton. Basement level 2 of the building will be for senior executive parking spots, and 235 spaces will be available via a third party on a "user pays" basis on basement level 1.
For everyone else, the agency told staff there are more than 3000 public parking spaces in the broader area.
We wonder how many of these are already filled up with Barton's current contingent of public servants.
The new offices look swish in the artist's impressions, but it sounds like many staff will spend a lot of time working elsewhere. Based on uptake of remote working, and the experience at other sites, the ATO said the new digs could have a desk ratio of less than one desk per staff member.
But wasn't moving to a single building about getting Canberra staff under the one roof?
Treasury's wine and dine on the public dime
Members of the Foreign Investment Review Board were treated to a dinner in Canberra's Hyatt Hotel last month by Treasury officials.
The powerful review board, which advises the government on investments in the country by foreign entities, counts former Howard government minister Nick Minchin and former Office of National Assessments head Bruce Miller among their ranks
Five of the board's seven members and four Treasury officials enjoyed a nearly $1000 bill in a la carte meals at the swanky venue, including three bottles of wine to help it all go down a treat.
But those selections were certainly not Penfolds Grange 1959. Instead, they were your usual $30 options from Dan Murphy's marked up to $80.
We can't have it all, you see. Like their boss Treasurer Jim Chalmers said, we've got to tighten the belt.
Who run the crossbench? Women chiefs
![Independent MP for North Sydney Kylea Tink. Picture by Elesa Kurtz Independent MP for North Sydney Kylea Tink. Picture by Elesa Kurtz](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/106459643/02eede1c-3797-4bd0-88d8-5335a03c69ff.jpg/r0_319_3685_2391_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
We know the May 21 federal election result ushered in a significant gender shift in politics (hello independent teals!) as well as a considerable expansion of the crossbench in both houses of Parliament.
What about behind the scenes? Well our colleague Karen Barlow has been on the phone and a ring around reveals the change in politics is even more pronounced.
The Canberra Times can reveal that women are in a remarkable number of the top most staffing positions for the crossbenchers, with nine of the 12 house independents staffing women as chiefs of staff, although one independent regards the most senior position as a dual role shared between a woman and a man.
Some of the MPs with women in the top office role include Bob Katter, Andrew Wilkie, Rebekha Sharkie, Kylea Tink and Monique Ryan.
In the upper house, the senators with female chiefs of staff include David Pocock, Ralph Babet and Tammy Tyrrell. Of the Greens 16 parliamentarians, half (eight) are male chiefs or senior advisers, while six are female and two identify as non-binary.
What do they do? A lot. Make that run the show. And the high demand on the job got even more demanding for the 47th Parliament after the Prime Minister slashed the personal allocation of staff for house crossbenchers to one and to two for most of the crossbench in the Senate.
Of course, there are politicians from the major parties with female chiefs of staff, and there are concerted efforts going to get more, but something just radically changed at the election.
APS: Accentuate Positive Survey results
We hear that public service bosses have started breaking the good news of the latest Australian Public Service census results. In May and June this year, public servants filled out the annual surveys, which gauge satisfaction levels in workplaces. Last week, agencies briefed staff in the APS about some of the findings in true Bing Crosby style: accentuating the positive, eliminating the negative, latching onto the affirmative.
The numbers don't lie, of course. We look forward to sifting through the results as they trickle through, and suspect in some workplaces at least, not all is as rosy as the big bosses make out.
Minimums, maximums, MOGs and CLOUDs
It was a public service master class that caught our attention last week.
That, or it's been a while since we've actually heard public servants appear before parliamentary committees.
Either way, the Attorney-General's Department first assistant secretary Andrew Warnes passed the bureaucracy fluency exam with flying colours.
After being berated by treaties committee chair Josh Wilson over why Home Affairs officials politely declined to show up, Mr Warnes explained he was part of the Home Affairs team that would have been there had it not been for Anthony Albanese's recent MOG that shunted him to the legal department.
"I imagine ... that is why the Department of Home Affairs would have turned down the invitation, not because they didn't want to be here," he assured the Labor chair.
He later tried his best to explain the intricacies of Australia's CLOUD Act data-sharing agreement with the US to Liberal MP Phillip Thompson.
Mr Warnes patiently clarified that the rules only applied to serious crimes, which carry a maximum prison penalty of three years or more.
But what about the minimum? Mr Thompson asked.
"The maximum is a minimum," he laughed. "Don't worry if it sounds confusing."
Buzzword bravado
After weeks of writing about APS buzzwords, we fear for the English language. Seriously though, thanks to those readers who shared some doozies they've overheard. We like (hate) this one: "teachable moment".
One reader, Virginia, also had this to say: "People never just 'go' or 'discover'. Instead they're always 'on a journey'. Unnecessarily pretentious!"
Too right.
Over to you
- What do you think about the ATO's move to Barton? And what's the parking sitch there?
- Did your boss' take on the APS census results measure up to reality?
Email us at ps@canberratimes.com.au or send your tips and feedback through the form below.