Senator HARRADINE(6.52 p.m.) —The Public Service is, in my view, not just there to serve the government in a narrow sense; it is there to serve the public. Obviously, there must be direction by the government but the capability to direct must be there as well. Essentially, the public servant is a servant of the public, whichever government is in power. The government is charged with the responsibility of carrying out government policy, of course. But the Public Service now is accountable in many respects to the parliament. What have we been doing most of last week? We have been sitting in estimates committees asking the Public Service to give an account of the expenditure of moneys that has been voted by the parliament for particular departments.

I think it is important to recognise the authority of the parliament and, as Senator Faulkner said, to uphold what is currently the case—the ability of this officer to report to parliament directly. I do not want to go over it because there is another situation in Victoria at the present moment with the Auditor-General but I believe that, in the interests of democracy and in the interests of the profession of the Public Service, this office of the Merit Protection Commissioner should be able to report in writing information to the agency minister, the Prime Minister and to the parliament through the presiding officers.