"sir humphrey" would be proud

[Ken Gargett]

The plush new headquarters of the Department of Climate Change in Canberra / The Daily

Telegraph Source:

No climate staff to be axed despite U-turn. $12m a year salary bill for 408 public servants Rent for

new offices $8m

TAXPAYERS will pay $90 million a year to keep 408 public servants employed in the Federal

Climate Change Department - despite most of them now having nothing to do until 2013.

More than 60 of them are classified as senior executive staff on salaries between $168,000 and

$298,000 a year. Their salary bill alone will cost an estimated $12 million every year. A further $8

million will also be paid in rent for plush offices at Canberra's Constitution Place until 2012, where it

is believed 500 new computers will be delivered this week. Despite Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's

decision on Tuesday to suspend the failed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme until at least 2013,

the department has ruled out plans to cut back staff.

A formal response by department secretary Martin Parkinson to a Senate estimates hearing on

Tuesday - the same day as the scheme's suspension - claimed the department would not offer

redundancies.

The formal response, obtained by The Daily Telegraph, said there were no plans for "the

immediate future" of any scaling back of staff.

According to official figures, the number of top-paid bureaucrats being paid up to $298,000 a year

has almost doubled since January this year from 39 to 61. That was to gear up for establishment of

the Australian Climate Change Regulatory Authority, which will also now have no function.

Since last year with climate change employees having risen from an initial 246 to 408.

Of the 61 senior agency officials, only nine have been inherited from the scrapped home insulation

scheme. The majority, 38, were employed on the CPRS and a further 19 were employed on the

renewable energy scheme which has also been axed.

But none of the 408 staff within the department will be shed even though the department's key

function, the CPRS, has been axed.

Its own tender documents reveal a lease contract of $16 million for its offices which expires in 2012.

[Warren]

These suckers need to all be knocked off the public *** right now.

My God this **** makes me angry.

Of course the flip side to this is that Kevin effng Rudd is arrogant enough to believe he'll still be PM 2013.

Most of our wives would spend less money than this fool.

[asmith]

You are correct Ken Sir Humphrey would be proud, but I need your input here. It was usually Sir Humphrey doing the sneaky back room dealing between all those involved and the Prime Minister looking lost and nodding his head in agreement.

If that is the same case for the Australian Federal Government, who do you see as being Sir Humphrey as we know who the PM is??

[Ken Gargett]

You are correct Ken Sir Humphrey would be proud, but I need your input here. It was usually Sir Humphrey doing the sneaky back room dealing between all those involved and the Prime Minister looking lost and nodding his head in agreement.

If that is the same case for the Australian Federal Government, who do you see as being Sir Humphrey as we know who the PM is??

smithy, perhaps the inmates are running the asylum.

[El Presidente]

If that is the same case for the Australian Federal Government, who do you see as being Sir Humphrey as we know who the PM is??

No Smithy we have taken that fantastic program of "yes minister" to a whole new level. Sir Humphrey, career public servant, has actually become our "Prime Minister".

Who else could have schemed the Federal takeover in health. Initially it was the development of a Super Health Department to overhaul the state public health systems. As it turns out we will now have a new Super health Department while retaining the existing Health Departments in each state. Twice the public servants for the same service. Brilliant!

[Warren]

No Smithy we have taken that fantastic program of "yes minister" to a whole new level. Sir Humphrey, career public servant, has actually become our "Prime Minister".

Who else could have schemed the Federal takeover in health. Initially it was the development of a Super Health Department to overhaul the state public health systems. As it turns out we will now have a new Super health Department while retaining the existing Health Departments in each state. Twice the public servants for the same service. Brilliant!

Once upon a time a country's leader was all about helping to build the nation.

We have one that is only intent on building bureaucracies, weather they are needed or not.

[Trevor2118]

TAXPAYERS will pay $90 million a year to keep 408 public servants employed in the Federal

Climate Change Department - despite most of them now having nothing to do until 2013.

But none of the 408 staff within the department will be shed even though the department's key

function, the CPRS, has been axed.

To paraphrase Sir Humphrey............

"Why should we close a department because it has nothing to do?

We don't disband the Army just because there isn't a war."

[Ken Gargett]

To paraphrase Sir Humphrey............

"Why should we close a department because it has nothing to do?

We don't disband the Army just because there isn't a war."

trev, is that your inner bureaucrat speaking?

[Fuzz AI]

This reminds me of the scene in History of the World Part 1,

Leader of the Senate - "All fellow members of the Roman senate hear me. Shall we continue to build palace after palace for the rich? Or shall we aspire to a more noble purpose and build decent housing for the poor? How does the senate vote?"

Entire Senate - "F*ck the poor!"