Australia seems to be confused about how it feels about it’s public service. By and large we are well-disposed to public servants who deliver immediate benefits, like health-care, but are underwhelmed about the performance of those who fulfil administrative capacities:

“This dualistic view allows Australians to simultaneously value public services, while acquiescing to populist attacks on public servants and their negative stereotyping in Parliament the media and popular culture,’’  says Dr James Whelan, the author of CPD’S recent study  ‘The State of the Public Service: An Alternative Report’.

Read more about the report in an article in The Canberra Times published today