Peta Credlin: The women’s network phallic logo an embarrassment for the public service

Last week the new logo for the Women’s Network disappeared as soon as it had arrived due to its phallic nature but how did it even get approved in the first place, asks Peta Credlin.

Anyone wondering what federal and state public servants actually do with their time would have been dismayed last week to discoverer that it includes designing phallic “logos” and attending “laughing yoga” sessions. Surely, only people who have no real work to do would be indulging themselves in this way at taxpayers’ expense.

It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that senior public service managers have lost the plot themselves or have lost control of their staff when these bizarre frolics take place. Why, you might well ask, does the federal Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet need “diversity networks” given that it has non-discriminatory hiring practices and promotes an internal culture of inclusion?

Women's network logo for Credlin column

Surely all those in the department, regardless of their gender, sexuality or ethnicity, should be getting on with their job of providing advice to the PM about suitable policy and its effective implementation across portfolios.

In response to the understandable online and media mockery that the proposed new women’s network logo generated, the department issued an official statement that the rebrand had been “completed internally using existing resources”, that the ludicrous design had been “consulted on widely” but was now being withdrawn pending further consultation, and that the PM and
his office had not been involved.

Still, what does it say about the way the PM’s own department thinks and runs, that these diversity networks even exist, and that such a phallic logo (presumably a deliberate attempt to embarrass the government) was ever produced?

Peta Credlin says some senior public service managers have lost the plot. Picture: Sky News

Likewise, the Water Infrastructure NSW “event” held on March 10, the very week that much of the state experienced record flooding and seven deaths, included a 15 minute “laughing yoga” session, presumably to address public servants’ anxiety.

Last week the CEO of Water NSW conceded that this had been “insensitive” and the Water Minister agreed that it would not have passed the “pub test”. What neither could explain, though, is how public service management could ever have come up with this ridiculous idea.

Is it any wonder more and more Australians are convinced the whole apparatus of government, with its dog’s breakfast of divided responsibilities between feds and the states, and ministers routinely hiding behind “official advice”, however perverse, is no longer fit for purpose?

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Originally published as Peta Credlin: The women’s network phallic logo an embarrassment for the public service