Coronavirus: National cabinet ‘world best’, says Phil Gaetjens

The national cabinet is ‘one of the best, if not the best, in the world in terms of the federations’, says the head of PM&C.

A national cabinet meeting in Canberra last month. Picture: Alex Ellinghausen

Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet chief Phil Gaetjens has praised the performance of Australia’s co-ordinated state and federal response to the COVID-19 crisis through the national cabinet as “one of the best, if not the best, in the world in terms of the federations”.

Appearing in Canberra before a Senate committee hearing into the government’s response to the crisis­, Mr Gaetjens said last week’s historic decision to do away with the Council of Australian Governments was “very well supported” by state and federal leaders.

Scott Morrison announced last Friday that the nearly 30-year-old COAG would be abolished and replaced­ by a new National Federation Reform Council, built around the national cabinet.

Mr Gaetjens said the national cabinet and NFRC would “keep a focus on issues of the day rather than become a plethora of anything and everything that then filters­ up to leaders to discuss”.

“One of the absolute positives of the national cabinet has been its sense of focus and purpose on the single but broad issue of managing the health responses nationally. The strength and the outcomes that have occurred in this federation would be one of the best, if not the best, in the world in terms of the federations.”

He said implementation of a cabin­et-style decision-making body would “allow a focused discuss­ion on a specified agenda”.

Leaders would be more comfortable conducting frank discussions in this format thanks to the “feeling that cabinet rules apply”.