Welcome to this special Senate estimates edition of Public Eye. Last week, government officials fronted up to Senate estimates to answer question upon question about how they function and the decisions they make as a result.
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Estimates is a chance to get bureaucrats and politicians in the room, and figure out what is going on.
But there's also opportunity for ambitious senators, and top bureacrats, to grab a few headlines in the process. (Though the latter tend to a bit more media shy).
Read on for Public Eye's analysis of the most explosive moments over the past week, to those that fell flat, and everything in between.
'The hotties list'
Senator Bridget McKenzie dug up perhaps the biggest story of the week on Monday, with the single question: "Does the phrase 'hotties list' mean anything to you?"
She received a long sigh and begrudging confirmation from Infrastructure department secretary, Jim Betts, who revealed allegations that some male graduates in the 2023 cohort had created a degrading list of their female colleagues, ranking them by their attractiveness.
Mr Betts said while the department had not been able to substantiate the existence of the list, he had spoken to female graduates to offer them support, and received advice from a former sex discrimination commissioner.
The Nationals senator continued to shape the narrative into the week, as she grilled Public Service Commissioner Gordon de Brouwer on the topic on Tuesday, over when he knew, and whether grad training was up to scratch.
She followed up with an op-ed in The Canberra Times, in which she argued the public interest in exposing the safety of APS workplaces, writing an "apparent culture of secrecy" had led to her being "warned" by Mr Betts not to put the allegations on the public record during estimates.
In an exchange between Mr Betts and Senator McKenzie earlier that morning, the secretary had urged caution about discussing allegations of harassment and bullying during estimates.
He said investigations could be under way, and people who had made allegations may be uncomfortable with them being made public.
"You may be asking questions which reveal to people who may be under investigation or who may be potential perpetrators that that is the case, so I would urge extreme caution before you go down this path," Mr Betts said.
"The Senate of all places should be aware of the vulnerability that young women can experience, and that these matters should be handled with extreme care."
Gordon de Brouwer's rising star power
Speaking of Dr de Brouwer, his star power is on the rise if attendance numbers at the Australian Public Service Commission's estimates appearance are anything to go by.
Since Dr de Brouwer debuted in the top job at Senate estimates in May, he has overseen probes into bureaucrats involved in the robodebt scheme and an inquiry into Home Affairs boss Mike Pezzullo, watched service-wide bargaining devolve into strikes, and helped mop up in the wake of consultants scandal.
So it was no surprise the APS boss seemed a bit tired. Nor was it shocking that the APSC session, which was over in a flash during the May estimates, drew something of a crowd and lasted for several hours.
Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher has been on the record that Dr de Brouwer will have a beefed up role as the government seeks to centralise oversight of the service within the APSC.
He's on his way.
Down to the letter
All eyes were on the Coalition this week, following their lacking performance at May's estimates.
But despite some wins, many senators struggled to land the blows they were hoping - especially as they tried to take various departments to task for responses to letters the Coalition had written them the week prior.
It became clear that the Coalition had sent letters to several agencies ahead of this round of estimates, containing long lists of questions and requests for data.
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Senator Michaelia Cash (usually a star performer) and fellow senator Paul Scarr spent much of Tuesday morning grilling Attorney-General's Department officials about why Secretary Katherine Jones had responded late to Senator Scarr's letter, and with no direct answers to his questions.
But the increasingly heated exchanges yielded little return, and the Coalition wasted valuable time they could have spent prosecuting the agencies on more pressing issues.
Fighting words from CDF
Chief of the Australian Defence Force Angus Campbell told Senator Jacqui Lambie she should "be ashamed" of herself, in a rebuke which he later withdrew.
He claimed she was "maliciously attempting to drive a wedge" between senior command and defence personnel over her line of questioning on remuneration and bonuses. Senator Lambie said she was just doing her job, and called for General Campbell to apologise.
A shoutout to all the 'acting' APS bosses
You know it will be an interesting session when an agency head has to make an opening statement preempting questions about a controversial topic.
That was the case for acting Home Affairs boss Stephanie Foster on Monday, who had to front up to Senators in the midst of an ongoing investigation into Mike Pezzullo. The Home Affairs secretary has stood aside while the APSC considers allegations he attempted to wield political influence through messages with a Liberal powerbroker.
Ms Foster performed pretty well considering. Her opening statement recognised things had been tough for staff, but sent a pretty clear message to senators she wouldn't be commenting on the Pezzullo matter.
Meanwhile, Services Australia was trying to restore faith in the agency in its first estimates appearance since the Robodebt Royal Commission.
Social Services secretary Ray Griggs said he had asked Leanne Ho, a human rights lawyer and citizen advocate, to join the selection panel as the agency looks for a new CEO, adding that he hoped this would "send an important message to the community that we've been listening to messages around community voice".
Tough questions on Israel-Hamas
Greens senator Jordon Steele-John made headlines after grilling Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong on Australia's position over Israel's actions in Gaza in the Israel-Hamas war.
Senator Steele-John gave an impassioned statement on the state of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying that Israel had denied the provision of water, food and medicine to 2.2 million people in the Palestinian territory and that this was a "crime against humanity".
He asked Senator Wong whether the Albanese government would "now clearly condemn the siege of Gaza by the state of Israel as a crime of collective punishment?".
The Foreign Affairs minister acknowledged "the terrible suffering of innocent civilians in the Gaza strip", but didn't go so far as to say that it amounted to collective punishment.
Over to you
- Is there an estimates moment you think we've missed?
- Let us know: ps@canberratimes.com.au
Clarification: This article has been updated to add additional context to Jim Betts' comments to Senator McKenzie.
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