Public Service chief John Lloyd takes aim at Labor, ACTU

Outgoing public service chief John Lloyd has used a defiant valedictory speech to criticise the ACTU and Labor.

Pic of Australian Public Service Commissioner John Lloyd who is being profiled in Inquirer in Friday's paper. Go to main security desk and ask for Emma. Details above Picture Gary Ramage

Outgoing federal public service chief John Lloyd has criticised the ACTU’s bid to rewrite federal workplace laws and Labor’s promise to scrap the building watchdog, while warning good policy advice was being stifled by “pervasive group think” dictated by political correctness.

In a defiant valedictory speech in Canberra last night, he described as “most unsatisfactory” the process by which he remains subject to an unfinished investigation into two complaints he breached the public service code of conduct through his dealings with the Institute of Public Affairs.

Mr Lloyd will finish as Australian Public Service Commissioner tomorrow and the probe by the Merit Protection Commission will lapse unless it reports before close of business on Wednesday.

In an overtly political address, Mr Lloyd said the current workplace relations system was “too regulated and inflexible”.

“This is a risk that will only be amplified if the ACTU agenda of more and deep regulation gains traction. In that case employment prospects would be damaged,’’ he said.

Mr Lloyd said when he met with subcontractors in his former role as Australian Building and Construction Commission head he “learnt of the shocking exposures and treatment they encountered at the hands of the unions and head contractors”.

“Some had experienced such violence and threats that they could not contain their emotions,’’ he said.

“I decided then that the ABCC would do all it could to protect the industry’s subcontractors from thuggish exploitation.”

Bill Shorten has promised to scrap the ABCC if Labor wins the election but Mr Lloyd said it “would be a seriously retrograde step to abolish the ABCC”.

“Without the ABCC many of the industry participants would once again prove they are singular in their disregard for the law and the use of brutal and unfair practices,’’ he said.

Mr Lloyd said Australia had a reputation for a healthy scepticism about authority.

“Today this scepticism is not as evident,’’ he said.

“We are deluged at every turn by do-gooders telling us what we should eat and drink, how we should exercise, how we should think, how we should spend our money, what type of dwelling we should live in.

It seems every day is a world day for either genuine or mindless causes for good. Virtual signalling is rampant in some quarters.

This concerns me. I think there is a danger the diversity of views and opinions that go to good policy advice could be stifled by pervasive group think dictated by what is politically correct. The Canberra setting can be particularly vulnerable to this.

“I encourage you as leaders to be vigilant about this and show the courage to express views and pursue ideas that may challenge the dogma of accepted group think. Just as importantly, support others that have the courage to stand up and question the prevailing orthodoxy.”