This Month
- Opinion
- Opinion
Why cabinet needs the two Mikes – Pezzullo and Burgess
The ASIO chief and his portfolio secretary come from Canberra’s warrior class. Despite any personal failings, their frank and fearless advice is valuable.
- Tom Burton
September
- Analysis
- Government IT
Technology’s dangerous-by-design era to come to an end
Cyber minister Clare O’Neil is pushing for Australia to join the rest of the world and shift responsibility for digital safety away from consumers and onto software vendors and smart device makers.
- Tom Burton
- Analysis
- Analysis
Australians are being taken for a ride by the flying kangaroo
Australia has one of the least competitive aviation markets in the world. Passengers are paying a high price for the flying kangaroo.
- Tom Burton
August
- Analysis
- Digital transformation
Anatomy of an $2.3b government tech failure
The business “super registry” would have been the biggest gov-tech project ever. After four years of spiralling costs, it has been unceremoniously dumped.
- Tom Burton
- Analysis
- Pharmaceuticals
How to double the university sector
A university degree will be almost mandatory to obtain future work, fundamentally challenging a system that was last reformed nearly 40 years ago.
- Tom Burton
- Analysis
- Public service
Government websites are unintelligible. It’s not just you
Poor writing and turgid government speak leaves citizens unable to engage with government.
- Tom Burton
- Analysis
- Analysis
Why the federal government is such a lousy customer
The latest review of the $80 billion procurement system again reveals significant problems, but little understanding of the root causes.
- Tom Burton
- Opinion
- Productivity Commission
What a TV link to a remote community taught me about good government
The latest Productivity Commission report shows all governments struggling to make the fundamental changes needed to give Indigenous communities their voice.
- Tom Burton
July
- Analysis
- Government Services Summit
Identity reforms open new era of personalised government
The ambitious aim to have a working digital identity system up and running by the middle of next year paves the way for a raft of personalised government services.
- Tom Burton
- Analysis
- Government Services Summit
New thinking, new leaders reboot digital government
How bureaucrats are retooling services for the public will dominate The Australian Financial Review Government Services Summit next week.
- Tom Burton
How a spreadsheet error spawned the $4.7b robo-debt monster
An analysis created by junior officials looked at just 418 welfare cases and contained a fundamental error. Their bosses seized on it anyway.
- Tom Burton
- Opinion
- Canberra Observed
Canberra readies for its robo-debt day of reckoning
Friday’s royal commission report is expected to be an unvarnished take-down of big government at its worst.
- Tom Burton
June
- Analysis
- Trade
Want to import or export? Here are 24 metres of regulations to fulfil
Australia has an invisible trade barrier – bureaucratic red tape. Now an ambitious program is being rolled out to finally remedy the mish-mash of rules, regulations and compliance costs that firms endure.
- Tom Burton
- Analysis
- Innovation
Australia’s dud report card on innovation and entrepreneurship
The collapse in venture capital is likely to stall already tepid R&D spending and innovation, raising profound questions about Australian entrepreneurialism.
- Tom Burton
- Analysis
- Public service
Why the public service is missing – or ignoring – rorts and wrongdoing
A high-level taskforce is overhauling the many checks and controls that so obviously failed to stop wrongdoings surrounding the robo-debt scheme, a billion dollars of grants, and PwC’s confidentiality breaches.
- Updated
- Tom Burton
- Analysis
- Analysis
Morrison government caught – yet again – handing out dodgy grants
Three strikes against a billion dollars of election largesse? The auditor-general has again called out the practice of cooking up grant projects in the ministerial wing of Parliament House.
- Tom Burton
- Analysis
- Analysis
It took six hours for AI researchers to design 40,000 toxic agents
The nerds are in control, rethinking artificial intelligence’s existential risk. Now the government is seeking to regulate it.
- Tom Burton
May
- Analysis
- Digital transformation
Why Australia needs a single digital regulator
Just as a new approach was needed to modify the excesses of 19th-century US railway titans, governments need to rethink how they ensure the internet benefits all.
- Tom Burton
- Analysis
- Analysis
PwC faces its Enron moment
The accounting and consulting giant faces a mountain of regulatory pain – and possibly having to decide if it is worth fighting prosecution over alleged confidentiality breaches.
- Tom Burton
- Analysis
- Analysis
Why god-doctors and not bulk billing are Medicare’s biggest problem
Correctly diagnosing what is driving the crisis in front-line health will provide a clearer understanding of how to fix the national insurance scheme.
- Tom Burton
