A former senior NSW official was reported to have suggested, in an address to the Brisbane Institute, that the practice of 'chopping and changing' top public servants after changes in government should be terminated ('Bring back apolitical bureaucrats' (editorial) and 'Call to protect bureaucrats', Courier Mail, 29/3/00).

Renewal of Queensland's Public Service suggests how the change he proposed might be made by :

• legislative creation of a New Public Service - and dissolution of the old Public Service;
• requiring a favourable recommendation on professional merit from a qualified panel before New Public Service positions could be confirmed; and
• adjustments to take account of other constraints and requirements, as Public Service renewal can not be concerned only with reversing the adverse effects of politicisation.

Restoring professionalism is not going to be painless. Queensland Public Service is currently built on a very shaky foundation (see Towards Good Government in Queensland) which has translated into a justified disrespect for the 'senior' Public Service, and into apparently seriously defective administrative performance (see Section 6 of Detailed Discussion of Queensland's Challenge).

The suggested renewal process  is based on the view that (a) the problem does not (usually) lie in the people but in their operating environment and (b) the effect of politicisation can only be overcome by a process which builds on such provable professionalism as still exists in the Public Service. The suggested process would take several years to fully implement, but should also produce useful short term benefits by ensuring that the senior New Public Service focuses on professional concerns (eg whether policy can work in practice) rather than on politicking.