“People often think of corruption as bags of money,exchanging hands for favours. But in a way,this sort of grey corruption is more insidious. It undermines institutions over time. It undermines democracy and therefore,I do think it is a corruption of our political process,” Wood said.
“If the new federal government is serious about improving the way politics is done in Australia,it should set about ending the insidious jobs-for-mates culture – and the state and territory governments should get on board.”
A “jobs for mates” culture was most visible among federal government business enterprises such as Australia Post and the Australian Rail Track Corporation where board roles are especially lucrative,the pay ranging from $91,000 to almost $200,000. Grattan found 22 per cent of these roles were political appointees – 93 per cent of whom had Coalition links – a stark comparison with the ASX100 companies of which just 2 per cent of all board members had political ties.
At a state level,14 per cent of government business board members in QLD and the ACT were affiliated with Labor,while in Victoria,it was around 10 per cent,with most linked to Labor.
Professor Meredith Edwards,from the University of Canberra’s Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis,said proper process for appointments should involve auditing the skills needed when vacancies arise,rather than the minister hand-picking candidates.
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“What you do is you look at who you’ve got[on the board],and then look where the gaps are,asking the chair of the board,if not others,what sort of skills do you need over the next few years to achieve your objectives?” she said.
Grattan’s estimates are conservative – they don’t include known members of political parties,donors,union officials or prominent supporters.
The political stacking of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal – where member salaries range from nearly $200,000 to nearly $500,000 a year – skyrocketed under the former Coalition governments,with Grattan finding that31 per cent of appointees since 2017 were linked to the Liberal and National parties.
Acting opposition leader Sussan Ley did not respond to questions about political appointments under the Coalition.
To draw a comparison between state and federal governments of opposing political persuasions,Grattan analysed Victorian government appointees,finding 13 boards with at least one Labor-affiliated member. The Queen Victoria Women’s Centre,Victorian Multicultural Institution and Work Safe Victoria had two Labor affiliated board members,while Sustainability Victoria had three – all appointed by the Labor government.
A Victorian government spokesperson said:“All board nominees are selected on merit and the basis of their diverse backgrounds,gender and ethnicity to ensure our board reflect the Victorian community”.
In NSW,the Coalition government has been tarred by a still-unfolding political scandal over theappointment of former deputy premier John Barilaro to a New York trade commissioner job in a move that stripped the role from bureaucrat Jenny West,who had been offered it.
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news,views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Subscribers can sign up to our weeklyInside Politics newsletter here.