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Academics reveal history of PM’s department
Who liaised with top-level American authorities to make sure Australia’s visiting Prime Minister John Howard could fly home when planes were grounded after the attacks of September 11 2001?
Who had to inform Harold Holt’s wife that he was missing at sea?
Who organised Gough Whitlam’s visit to China – the first visit by an Australian Prime Minister?
The responsibilities and growing power of Australia’s Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet are documented in a new book co-authored by two University of the Sunshine Coast academics.
USC’s Professor of History Dr Joanne Scott and Lecturer in Politics Bronwyn Stevens will join the third author Professor Patrick Weller of Griffith University in Canberra on Monday 11 July for the official launch by Senator John Faulkner.
The two USC staff members spent a year burrowing into the files at the National Archives, the National Library and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet in the ACT after receiving a $92,000 Commonwealth ARC Linkage Grant in partnership with the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet for the two-year project.
“From Postbox to Powerhouse: A Centenary History of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet” is the 360-page hardcover result, published by Allen & Unwin and retailing for $55.
It provides glimpses of the day-to-day workings of one of the country’s most important institutions while charting history through both a chronology of events and themed chapters.
Ms Stevens said the process was fascinating, especially when she found herself inside the bureaucracy last year during Labor’s surprise overthrow of former prime minister Kevin Rudd.
“I was working in the Department until 8.20pm the night it was happening and by next morning, the public servants had everything in place to get new Prime Minister Julia Gillard sworn in,” she said.
“Sometimes they have to work so fast and all hours to ensure things run smoothly.
“Compiling the book was an excellent experience, observing first-hand how high-level public servants work. We’ve certainly raised the profile of the University of the Sunshine Coast in Canberra too.”
Professor Scott said she was impressed by the generosity of current and former staff in sharing their recollections of the Department.
“Tracing the department's evolution from a tiny agency in 1911 with just six staff to a major policy powerhouse allows us to reflect on key changes in Australian government and society across the past century,” she said.
Professor Scott also said archival records revealed that long working hours were not just a recent phenomenon.
“In his unpublished memoirs, the first head of the Prime Minister's Department, Malcolm Shepherd, described working from 9am until midnight, although he usually managed to fit in a bicycle ride and a run before going to the office.”
The book contains some rare photographs, such as Robert Menzies on the deck of the Queen Mary, when the main method of foreign travel by prime ministers was still by ship.
The release of the book has been timed to coincide with the department’s 100-year anniversary this month.
— Julie Gatehouse