Malcolm Turnbull: Kerri Hartland and Thursday Morrison

malcolm turnbull: On Thursday Morrison announced a major shake-up of the public service, a week before the government was expected to release its response to the review led by David Thodey, commissioned by Morrison's predecessor, Malcolm Turnbull, according to The Guardian. The restructure abolishes four departments and results in five departmental secretaries being sacked Kerri Hartland, Ren e Leon, Mike Mrdak, Daryl Quinlivan and Heather Smith. Instead submissions by federal departments called for a relaxation of staffing caps and rules that demand offsets before they undertake new spending, with these policies blamed for spiralling consultant costs and a lack of investment in systems such as IT. The departments also highlighted the importance of the public service's role in delivering advice to government, in marked contrast to Morrison'sview that its primary role was service delivery. Lumping the arts portfolio in with infrastructure is retrograde and unimaginative Esther Anatolitis Read more Mrdak, the head of the communications and arts department, told staff he was first informed of the changes on Wednesday. One department secretary has confirmed to Guardian Australia that portfolio restructures were not raised in the Thodey review in multiple rounds of consultation. A spokeswoman for the department of human services said its secretary, Renee Leon, also found out on Wednesday. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.