Public Eye: AUKUS paperclips, 50 Marcus Clarke St ceiling reveal, Infrastructure scrimping

A freedom of information request of the Comcare report has shown the incident happened when an air conditioning duct attached to the underside of level 2 "dropped" and fell through the decorative level one ceiling.

It "sheared" off the sprinkler pipe as it came down, setting off the fire alarm and causing "vast amounts of water" to spill all over the first floor and into the lift shafts.

Water extraction contractors and plumbers were engaged to mop up the mess.

A picture supplied to Public Sector Informant shows the aftermath of the incident with the affected area covered in water and parts of the aluminium decorative ceiling stacked in a pile.

The incident report, which was written on the following Monday, indicated people were in the building when it happened but were on a different floor. No-one was injured but imagine if it had been a weekday.

A Workplace Relations spokesperson previously told us the bill was around $200,000 for environmental testing and the services of an additional engineer following the incident.

There was plenty of gasping and eye-bulging last week after the figures for the historic AUKUS nuclear-submarine deal were finally revealed.

It's expected the decades-long technology-sharing pact could cost Australia's budget about $368 billion, or as Defence Minister Richard Marles preferred to pitch it as, about 0.15 per cent of GDP.

But the real mystery figure we're interested in was far less openly discussed.

Journalists, who joined the early morning lockup at Parliament House shortly before the public announcement, noted a curious addition to the documents they were handed.

The paperclips, which held some of the pages, were in the shape of a submarine.

Naturally curious, as we are here, we asked the Defence Department just how much of budget did the paperclips snag.

Perhaps, we should have also asked how much of GDP the figure represented as well.

Either way, the information we requested must be the most tightly-held secret since the AUKUS announcement itself as we didn't hear back from the department.

Maybe we'll just have to wait until the three leaders meet in Russell to announce the deal also includes the sharing of cutting-edge stationery technology.

The fallout from a decision to shorten the prestigious graduate program at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade continues.

DFAT announced it would reduce its 24-month program to 12 months last year, bringing it in line with most others across the public service. It means this year's cohort will finish their program at the same time as those hired for the 2022 program, as The Canberra Times revealed last year.

Now, according to an internal letter sent on behalf of 2021 and 2022 graduates, the 2023 graduates will be promoted to APS4.2 rankings shortly before the more senior 2022 graduates.

A department spokesperson confirmed the 2023 group would graduate in December 2023. So, what about the 2022 grads?

They'll be finishing up the program in early 2024.

"Throughout 2022, the department consulted graduate officers and the Community and Public Sector Union on changes to the graduate program," the spokesperson said.

They also said the 2022 cohort are being supported, with "equitable transition opportunities within the department" available to them.

The Infrastructure Department is on the lookout for a new Canberra office.

The department's public servants are spread across three buildings in Canberra's city: 111 Alinga Street, 62 Northbourne Ave and 2 Phillip Law Street (the Nishi building).

With all three leases set to expire soon, two in 2026 and the other in 2027, the department approached the market in October last year looking for new accommodation.

Staff will be moving into the new office space anytime between January 2026 and June 2026, and could be sharing a building with the Australian Trade and Investment Commission.

The preferred contract would be for 20 years, according to Infrastructure's tender.

Meanwhile, the agency says it is undertaking "an ongoing process to review its expenditure" to reduce spending on external labour, advertising, travel and legal expenses.

"The department is continuing to assess contractor requirements to minimise the use of contractors, except where necessary to ensure delivery of the government's priorities," a department spokesperson told us.

Hopefully, that scrimping and saving adds up to a shiny new office.

MORE PUBLIC SERVICE:

If you've ever logged on to the Australian Taxation Office's online portal and grimaced at your student loan debt, spare a thought for these folks.

In a recent freedom of information request, the tax office released a list of the 100 largest HECS-HELP balances in Australia.

At the top of the list is one poor, but presumably very well-educated, soul with a balance of $737,070.48. It's followed by another with a $495,990.47 debt to the government.

Coming in at last place in the top 100 list few would be happy to be part of is someone with a balance of $219,726.98.

The tax office provided a note after the list outlining laws brought in from 2020 to cap loans at a little more than $100,000. Most had been raised before then.

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