The Albanian government has been called “out of touch” for spending $38,500 on a six-part podcast about employment practices in the public service.
A Freedom of Information request revealed that the Australian Public Service Commission paid the huge sum in September to a ThinkThank non-profit organisation, the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA).
For the outlay of $38,500, IPAA will make six “special” episodes of its regular “Work with Purpose” podcast, which it describes as a “must listen” for those working in Australia’s public sector.
Work with Purpose is hosted by former ABC journalist David Pembroke and airs about three times a month with 123 episodes produced so far that typically run between 30 and 50 minutes.
The first podcast paid for by the Public Service Commission was published on November 18 and is titled ‘Circle of Collaboration: Shaping First Nations Initiatives in the APS’.
In the episode, Sam Jeffries from the Australian Public Service Commission, Julie Hansen from the Department of Defense and Stella Renagi from the Australian Taxation Office explain the newly trialled ‘Circle of Collaboration’ consultation process.
During the 46-minute podcast, Jeffries explained that a collaborative circle involved bringing together senior public officials and staff of all ranks in a room where they could talk about Indigenous labor issues.
Jeffries said a key outcome was “making sure that what we had in the room were people who weren’t too afraid to have the conversation that they were too afraid to have.”
The Albanian government has spent more than $38,000 to produce six podcasts on work practices in the public service.
One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts criticized the generous production budget.
“Paying $6,400 for a podcast episode while Australians suffer a cost of living crisis is out of line,” he told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday.
‘I do live podcasts on social media every Friday for the cost of a webcam and microphone.
‘I’m happy to give (Finance) Minister Katy Gallagher some advice on how to use profitable social media if she so chooses.
“This is the example Labor is setting for the rest of the public service about how to spend money – we have a lot of waste to clean up.”
The Australian Public Service Commission told Daily Mail Australia that the purpose of the podcasts was to “communicate APS reform initiatives in the APS”.
A Commission spokesperson said the $38,000 “covers IPAA ACT’s costs to film, produce, distribute and promote the episodes.”
“Themes focus on collaboration, continuous improvement, capacity and management and span a range of public servants,” he said.
In the original proposal, there were plans to feature Senator Gallagher in the opening and closing episodes, but the Commission said she would not appear.
The remaining five episodes will premiere next year.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the IPAA for comment.
Public spending has been growing at a dizzying pace compared to the rest of the economy.
In the latest quarter, spending across Australia’s various levels of government rose 2.4 per cent in the three months to September, compared with anemic growth of just 0.5 per cent for the broader economy, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The public sector has expanded to represent almost 27.9 percent of the national economy, well above the 22.5 percent recorded in the 10 years before the arrival of Covid.