When Ted Evans ran the federal Treasury in the 1990s, the former telephone linesman spoke in a whisper, but he wasn’t shy of speaking truth to power. When he really wanted to make a point, he sometimes tapped his fist on the table.
“No minister, you cannot do that,” Evans told treasurers and assistant treasurers, several past officials say. His successor, Ken Henry, delivered a scathing assessment of Howard government climate and water policies in front of the entire department’s staff in 2007, calling them “frankly bad”.