Culture of Consensus Stopped Public Service From Tackling China Threat Early: Think Tanks
A culture of consensus held back the Australian Public Service from recognising, and acting, on the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), leading think tank experts argue.
Peter Jennings of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute said there was a “remarkable degree of conformity” within the debate in the public service, particularly around foreign affairs.
“There’s not a lot of warmth or welcome towards people who challenge that conformity. You could argue that perhaps that’s a product of the design of the federal capital, which means that foreign and defence policy is very much a public service business inside the Australian Capital Territory and that, unlike Washington or London, it’s not troubled by a broader exposure to a range of views,” he told the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade.