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Transparency and citizen engagement remain essential to good government and public policy. Indeed, they may well be the key to restoring trust in government, at an all-time low in Australia. It is ironic, then, that this has occurred at a time when the technological potential for information dissemination and interaction has never been greater.

"Transparency and citizen engagement remain essential to good government and sound public policy. Indeed, they may well be the key to restoring trust in government itself, currently at an all-time low in Australia. It is ironic, then, that this has occurred at a time when the technological potential for information dissemination and interaction has never been greater. Opening Government: Transparency and Engagement in the Information Age explores new horizons and scenarios for better governance in the context of the new information age, focusing on the potentials and pitfalls for governments (and governance more broadly) operating in the new, information-rich environment. Its contributors, a range of international and Australian governance academics and practitioners, ask what are the challenges to our governing traditions and practices in the new information age, and where can better outcomes be expected using future technologies. They explore the fundamental ambiguities extant in opening up government, with governments intending to become far more transparent in providing information and in information sharing, but also more motivated to engage with other data sources, data systems and social technologies."

Predictable and unpredictable challenges continually confront the policy settings and policy frameworks of governments. They provide a constantly changing dynamic within which policy-making operates. Governments at all levels are asking their public services to identify innovative and workable reforms to anticipate and address these challenges. Public service leaders around the world are struggling not only to better anticipate emerging demands but also to address reform backlogs. However, time and time again, major policy reforms can prove tough to implement – especially in turbulent environments – and even tougher to anchor over time. This leads to considerable uncertainty and inefficiency as governments and policy communities try to keep pace with change. Policies that unravel or are dismantled are costly and represent wasted opportunities. They lead to cynicism about the effectiveness of governments and public service advice more generally, making it more difficult to deal with other emerging challenges. This volume of proactive essays on delivering policy reform offers an intriguing blend of strategic policy advice and management insight. It brings together a diverse range of highquality contributors from overseas as well as from Australia and New Zealand – including national political leaders, public service executives, heads of independent agencies, and leading international scholars.

This book explores the ways in which governments are putting citizens first in their policy-making endeavours. Making citizens the focus of policy interventions and involving them in the delivery and design is for many governments a normative ideal; it is a worthy objective and sounds easy to achieve. But the reality is that putting citizens at the centre of policy-making is hard and confronting. Are governments really serious in their ambitions to put citizens first? Are they prepared for the challenges and demands such an approach will demand? Are they prepared to commit the time and resources to ensure genuine engagement takes place and that citizens' interests are considered foremost? And, more importantly, are governments prepared for the trade-offs, risks and loss of control such citizen-centric approaches will inevitably involve? The book is divided into five parts: - setting the scene: The evolving landscape for citizen engagement - drivers for change: Innovations in citizen-centric governance - case studies in land management and Indigenous empowerment - case studies in fostering community engagement and connectedness - case studies engaging with information technology and new media. While some chapters question how far governments can go in engaging with citizens, many point to successful examples of actual engagement that enhanced policy experiences and improved service delivery. The various authors make clear that citizen engagement is not restricted to the domain of service delivery, but if taken seriously affects the ways governments conduct their activities across all agencies. The implications are enormous, but the benefits to public policy may be enormous too

This book explores the ways in which governments are putting citizens first in their policy-making endeavours. Making citizens the focus of policy interventions and involving them in the delivery and design is for many governments a normative ideal; it is a worthy objective and sounds easy to achieve. But the reality is that putting citizens at the centre of policy-making is hard and confronting. Are governments really serious in their ambitions to put citizens first? Are they prepared for the challenges and demands such an approach will demand? Are they prepared to commit the time and resources to ensure genuine engagement takes place and that citizens' interests are considered foremost? And, more importantly, are governments prepared for the trade-offs, risks and loss of control such citizen-centric approaches will inevitably involve? The book is divided into five parts:

- setting the scene: The evolving landscape for citizen engagement
- drivers for change: Innovations in citizen-centric governance
- case studies in land management and Indigenous empowerment
- case studies in fostering community engagement and connectedness
- case studies engaging with information technology and new media.

While some chapters question how far governments can go in engaging with citizens, many point to successful examples of actual engagement that enhanced policy experiences and improved service delivery. The various authors make clear that citizen engagement is not restricted to the domain of service delivery, but if taken seriously affects the ways governments conduct their activities across all agencies. The implications are enormous, but the benefits to public policy may be enormous too.

Secretaries of government departments in Australia are the bureaucratic leaders of their generation. They are ambitious, highly-talented executives who have risen to the very pinnacle of their chosen vocation – public service to the Australian nation – usually after having spent most, if not all, of their professional careers dedicated to the public service. They serve governments as their top advisers and in policy terms are often some of the most important decision-makers in the country. This collection brings together the valedictory speeches and essays from a departing group of secretaries (and one or two other equivalent agency heads) who left the Australian Public Service between 2004 and 2011. Over this period of time it gradually became accepted that departing secretaries and heads of significant agencies would present a valedictory address to their peers at a public farewell function. The first two speeches in this collection were initiated informally and given at functions organised by their agencies; in 2005 the process was formalised with the Australian Public Service Commission acting as organiser.

These contributions contain reflections, commentaries, occasional fond memories or key turning-points in careers, critiques of changes that have occurred and an outline of the remaining challenges their successors will face as the public administrators of tomorrow.

From the outset it is clear that there is no uniform message, no single narrative levelled either in praise or in criticism, other than pride in the public service and strong belief in the contribution it makes to the Australian community. They have their own personal 'takes' on how the public service looks to them, on its performance and on the challenges confronting public administration into the future. Most spend some time looking back, reflecting on the extent of change that has occurred over the length of their careers; but equally importantly they look forward, anticipating future policy dilemmas and capacity challenges.

Part I.The reform challenge.Delivering policy reform: making it happen, making it stick /Evert A. Lindquist and John Wanna --'Don't waste the crisis': the agenda for public-policy reforms in a turbulent world /Aart de Geus --Making reforms sustainable: lessons from the American policy reform experience /Eric M. Patashnik --Part II.National reform initiatives.How to design and deliver reform that makes a real difference:what recent history has taught us as a nation /Paul Kelly --The 'new responsibility model' for New Zealand public-sector CEOs /Bill English --A portent of things to come: lessons from a reforming minister /Lindsay Tanner --The agenda for achieving a world-class public sector: making reforms that matter in the face of challenges /Stephen Sedgwick --Collaborative reform: lessons from the COAG Reform Council, 2008-2010 /Mary Ann O'Loughlin --Entrenching 'Rogernomics' in New Zealand: political and academic perspectives /Jonathan Boston and Sir Roger Douglas --Institutional renewal and reform: the challenge of the Commonwealth of Nations /Michael Kirby --Part III.Tackling and anchoring reform initiatives.Tackling cartels: lessons for making and entrenching reform /William E. Kovacic --The overhaul of Australian immigration practices, 2005-2010 /Andrew Metcalfe --Getting integrity reforms adopted internationally /Jeremy Pope --Sustaining water reform in Australia /Ken Matthews --Up in smoke: combating tobacco through legislative reform /Rob Moodie --Improving road safety: perspectives from Victoria's Transport Accident Commission /Janet Dore --Epilogue: rules for reformers /Paul 't Hart.

The Afghan Local Police (ALP) was designed as an international counterinsurgency programme that works by raising small, village-level defence forces from within rural Afghan communities. Despite being driven by counterinsurgency objectives – that is, seeking to defeat insurgents - its emphasis upon harnessing local populations reflects broader fashions in development and security policy circles. Such policies, in turn, are commonly seen as emerging from a body of theoretical literature that is rethinking the nature of political order in conflict-torn spaces. At face value the range of well-documented controversies surrounding the ALP suggests, however, that the practice is much more 'messy'. Using the case study of the ALP in the district of Andar, we make two main arguments. First, the mess and ambiguity surrounding the ALP reveal a gap between objectives and practices, suggesting that interventions that work by seeking to harness the 'local' introduce problems that have yet to be fully recognised. Second, however, in explaining the 'mess' of the ALP we argue that the theoretically-driven work that is commonly taken to justify 'bottom-up' interventions, if taken seriously, is well-suited to understanding and even anticipating the supposedly unexpected consequences of intervenors seeking to tap local dynamics.

The Afghan Local Police (ALP) was designed as an international counterinsurgency programme that works by raising small, village-level defence forces from within rural Afghan communities. Despite being driven by counterinsurgency objectives – that is, seeking to defeat insurgents - its emphasis upon harnessing local populations reflects broader fashions in development and security policy circles. Such policies, in turn, are commonly seen as emerging from a body of theoretical literature that is rethinking the nature of political order in conflict-torn spaces. At face value the range of well-documented controversies surrounding the ALP suggests, however, that the practice is much more 'messy'. Using the case study of the ALP in the district of Andar, we make two main arguments. First, the mess and ambiguity surrounding the ALP reveal a gap between objectives and practices, suggesting that interventions that work by seeking to harness the 'local' introduce problems that have yet to be fully recognised. Second, however, in explaining the 'mess' of the ALP we argue that the theoretically-driven work that is commonly taken to justify 'bottom-up' interventions, if taken seriously, is well-suited to understanding and even anticipating the supposedly unexpected consequences of intervenors seeking to tap local dynamics.

Secretaries of government departments in Australia are the bureaucratic leaders of their generation. They are ambitious, highly-talented executives who have risen to the very pinnacle of their chosen vocation – public service to the Australian nation – usually after having spent most, if not all, of their professional careers dedicated to the public service. They serve governments as their top advisers and in policy terms are often some of the most important decision-makers in the country. This collection brings together the valedictory speeches and essays from a departing group of secretaries (and one or two other equivalent agency heads) who left the Australian Public Service between 2004 and 2011. Over this period of time it gradually became accepted that departing secretaries and heads of significant agencies would present a valedictory address to their peers at a public farewell function. The first two speeches in this collection were initiated informally and given at functions organised by their agencies; in 2005 the process was formalised with the Australian Public Service Commission acting as organiser. These contributions contain reflections, commentaries, occasional fond memories or key turning-points in careers, critiques of changes that have occurred and an outline of the remaining challenges their successors will face as the public administrators of tomorrow. From the outset it is clear that there is no uniform message, no single narrative levelled either in praise or in criticism, other than pride in the public service and strong belief in the contribution it makes to the Australian community. They have their own personal 'takes' on how the public service looks to them, on its performance and on the challenges confronting public administration into the future. Most spend some time looking back, reflecting on the extent of change that has occurred over the length of their careers; but equally importantly they look forward, anticipating future policy dilemmas and capacity challenges.

This festschrift celebrates the extensive contribution John Wanna has made to the research and practice of politics, policy and public administration. It includes both personal acknowledgements of his work and substantial essays on the issues that he focused most closely upon during his academic career: budgeting and financial management, politics, and public policy and administration. The essays address contemporary developments in public sector financial management in Australia and overseas, changing political processes in Queensland and the Commonwealth, and public governance and administration reform trajectories in Australia and internationally, including in China. A common theme is the importance of linking research to practice, reflecting John Wanna's own style and contribution. Essays include exploration of the interface between academia and practice, including from the perspective of practitioners. The authors of the essays in this volume include eminent Australian and international scholars of public administration, experienced public service practitioners and younger scholars influenced by John Wanna.

Introduction /Andrew Podger and John Wanna --Yes, minister : the privileged position of secretaries /Roger Beale --My fortunate career and some parting remarks /Andrew Podger --Performance management and the performance pay paradox /Allan Hawke --Thirty-eight years toiling in the vineyard of public service /Ric Smith --The last count -- the importance of official statistics to the democratic process /Dennis Trewin --Balancing life at home and away in the Australian Public Service /Joanna Hewitt --In the national interest /Peter Shergold --Impressions, observations and lessons from a Canberra outsider /Robert Cornall --An unlikely secretary : a boy from the outer agencies /Mark Sullivan --As if for a thousand years: the challenges ahead for the APS /David Borthwick --Reflections of an 'unabashed rationalist' /Peter Boxall --Our custodial role for the quality of advisory relations at the centre of government /Patricia Scott --A road less travelled -- reflecting on three professional pillars of support /Michael L'Estrange --There's a telegram for you : fashioning Australia's unique model of public administration /Ken Matthews --The opportunities, challenges and policy responses for the Australian economy /Ken Henry --The boss in the yellow suit : leading service delivery reform /Lynelle Briggs --The challenges for the public service in protecting Australia's democracy in the future /Terry Moran.

This festschrift celebrates the extensive contribution John Wanna has made to the research and practice of politics, policy and public administration. It includes both personal acknowledgements of his work and substantial essays on the issues that he focused most closely upon during his academic career: budgeting and financial management, politics, and public policy and administration. The essays address contemporary developments in public sector financial management in Australia and overseas, changing political processes in Queensland and the Commonwealth, and public governance and administration reform trajectories in Australia and internationally, including in China. A common theme is the importance of linking research to practice, reflecting John Wanna's own style and contribution. Essays include exploration of the interface between academia and practice, including from the perspective of practitioners. The authors of the essays in this volume include eminent Australian and international scholars of public administration, experienced public service practitioners and younger scholars influenced by John Wanna.

Portrait of a life enthralled in politics and academe / John Wanna -- Section 1: Budgeting and financial management. Introduction to Section 1: Public finance, budgeting and financial management ; 1. Reflections on John Wanna's contributions to theory and practice / Allen Schick ; 2. Australian budgeting and beyond: Exploring John Wanna's scholarly surplus / Evert Lindquist ; 3. Performance management for success: Public sector organisations in Australia and the Philippines / Lewis Hawke ; 4. A system in adjustment: Australia's evolving public budget management system / Stein Helgeby ; 5. Contradictions in implementing performance management / John Halligan -- Section 2: Politics. Introduction to Section 2: Queensland and Australian politics ; 6. Cabinet government: The least bad system of government? / Patrick Weller ; 7. 'A long revolution': The historical coverage of Queensland politics and government / Chris Salisbury ; 8. Policymaking, party executives and parliamentary policy actors / Marija Taflaga ; 9. Models of government-business relations: Industry policy preferences versus pragmatism / Michael de Percy -- Section 3: Public policy and administration. Introduction to Section 3: Public policy and public administration ; 10. Beyond new public governance / R. A. W. Rhodes ; 11. Chinese public administration developments and prospects: An Australian (and Hong Kong) perspective / Andrew Podger and Hon Chan ; 12. Coming to terms with the state / Jim Jose -- Section 4: Working with practitioners. Introduction to Section 4: Working with practitioners ; 13. Engaging with government: A confessional tale / Paul ' t Hart ; 14. Neoliberalism? That's not how practitioners view public sector reform / Peter Shergold and Andrew Podger ; 15. Of 'trifles' and 'manhole covers': The practitioner-academic interface / Isi Unikowski.