Political appointment threat?

Press, 30 June 1983, Page 8

Political appointment threat?

Parliamentary reporter

The chairman of the State Services Commission, Dr M. C. Probine, says he has heard nothing about Cabinet Ministers wanting political appointees in top Public Service jobs. Dr Probine has told public servants in the commission’s June circular that pressure could grow for Cabinet appointments to the most sensitive positions in the Public Service if Ministers did not receive lq§alty

and support from the Public Service. But he denied yesterday that Ministers were now wanting to make such appointments because of information leaks. “In relation to the separation between the political and administrative arms of government the Ministers have been absolutely impeccable,” he said. “But if the service was not loyal it is conceivable that it - could happen — that is all I was saying.

“There have been the odd people who have let us down, but by and large the Ministers see the service as most certainly loyal. “If we had a disloyal and disaffected service Ministers might want to appoint loyal persons, and that is in nobody’s interest,” Dr Probine said. He said that, in timing his comments to coincide with the taking effect from Friday of the Official Information Act, he had no thought of curtailing freedom of in-

formation by emphasising the loyalty of public servants. The Public Service Act, 1912, insisted on loyalty from public servants, and their code of ethics endorsed this. “I just thought it was timely with the new act’s coming into force and spelling out some of the conventions underlying the relationship between officials and Minsters that I should articulate some of these conventions,” Dr Prtfbine

’ said. Public servants could no longer justify a decision to , withhold information on the ’ basis that it would not be in I the interests of the Minister. I “The decision whether to release must be based on i criteria stipulated in the ; legislation,” he said. “As a result of experience with the operation of the act in the future there might i need to be a more precise i definition of areas of rei sponsibility at the senior level,” he said.