The Albanese government has been called ‘out of touch’ for spending $38,500 on a six-part podcast about public service work practices.
A Freedom of Information request revealed the Australian Public Service Commission paid the whopping sum in September to non-profit think thank the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA).
For the $38,500 outlay, IPAA will make six ‘special’ episodes of its regular ‘Work with Purpose’ podcast, which it describes as a ‘must listen’ for those working in Australia’s public sector.
Work with Purpose is hosted by former ABC journalist David Pembroke and is put out around three times a month with 123 episodes so far produced that typically range from around 30 to 50 minutes in length.
The first podcast paid for by the Public Service Commission was posted on November 18 and is titled ‘Collaboration Circle: Shaping First Nations initiatives in the APS’.
In the episode Sam Jeffries from the Australian Public Service Commission, the Department of Defence’s Julie Hansen and Stella Renagi from the Australian Taxation Office explain the newly trialled ‘Collaboration Circle’ consultative process.
During the 46-minute podcast, Mr Jeffries explained that a Collaboration Circle involved getting senior public servants and staff from all ranks into a room where they could talk about Indigenous work issues.
Mr Jeffries said a key outcome was to ‘make sure that what we got in the room was people to not to be too afraid to have the conversation that they’re too afraid to have’.
The Albanese government has spent over $38,000 to produce six podcasts on public service work practices
One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts slammed the lavish production budget.
‘Paying $6,400 a podcast episode while Australians are suffering through a cost of living crisis is out of touch,’ he told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday.
‘I do podcasts live to social media every Friday for the cost of a webcam and a microphone.
‘I’m happy to give (Finance) Minister Katy Gallagher some tips on doing cost effective social media if she wants any.
‘This is the example the Labor party is setting for the rest of the public service on how to spend money – we’ve got a lot of waste to clean up.’
The Australian Public Service Commission told Daily Mail Australia the purpose of the podcasts was ‘to communicate APS Reform initiatives in the APS’.
A Commission spokesman said the $38,000 ‘covers costs for IPAA ACT to record, produce, distribute and promote the episodes’.
‘The topics focus on collaboration, continuous improvement, capability and stewardship and feature a range of public servants,’ he said.
In the original proposal, there had been plans to feature Senator Gallagher in the opening and closing episodes, but the Commission said she would not feature.
The remaining five episodes will be released next year.
Daily Mail Australia contacted the IPAA for comment.
Public spending has been growing at a dizzying rate compared to the rest of the economy.
In the last quarter spending across Australia’s various levels of government rose by 2.4 per cent in the three months to September compared to an anaemic grown of just 0.5 per cent for the economy overall, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The public sector has expanded to be almost 27.9 per cent of the national economy, well up from 22.5 per cent recorded in the 10 years before Covid hit.
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