Ministerial advisers face ban on directing bureaucrats

PUBLIC servants will be able to challenge directions of ministerial staff under reforms by the Queensland government.

PUBLIC servants will be able to challenge directions and instructions of ministerial staff under reforms flagged by the Queensland government to check the power of apparatchiks.

The politically sensitive issue has been blown open by revelations that a former senior ministerial adviser in the Bligh government, Simon Tutt, arranged a $200,000 grant for a sports club with which he was associated, and told a public servant to ensure the money was paid upfront.

In a submission to Queensland's Crime and Misconduct Commission, the government said it would ban ministerial advisers from unilaterally directing public servants. But a planned code of conduct for the public service would also allow officers to challenge instructions that were unreasonable, unlawful or improper.

"This code will clearly articulate the role of the public service within the Westminster system of government and reiterate that ministerial staff do not have executive power or legal authority to direct public service officers unless the direction is made on behalf of the minister," the government submission says.

The CMC last year held public hearings into the Tutt affair as part of a wider review into how ministers and their staff interact with public servants.

The accountability issue with advisers is gaining traction nationally because of the explosion in taxpayer-funded ministerial staff in state and federal governments, and the widening scope of the role.

In 2008, the Rudd government introduced a code of conduct for federal ministerial staff, stipulating that they did not have the power in their own right to direct commonwealth public servants.

While echoing this, the Queensland measures go further, proposing specific legislation for hiring and, if necessary, disciplining ministerial staff.

A clause would be inserted in the terms of advisers' employment acknowledging they do not have the power or authority to direct public servants unless this was done on behalf of the minister.

Mr Tutt has denied any wrongdoing.