Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he wants more ideas from the public service. 

In a recent radio interview, Mr Albanese said he wishes to “tap into” the skills and talent within the public service. 

“There are thousands of really smart people who’ve gone into public service not just to tick boxes and fill in paper, but to contribute to their country. And they have ideas,” he said. 

“And we need to tap into that resource. So, I think one of the things I’ve tried to do is to use the Commonwealth public service in a more respectful way and utilise them as an asset for the country.”

The comments line up with previous calls by public service minister Katy Gallagher to tap into the public service’s expertise and ease the reliance on consultants.

Mr Albanese says he spoke with department secretaries late last year to ask what was and was not working in the first six months of his government.

“We just went through, in a coordinated way, each of the departments: what they got right in the first six months of the new government, what their ideas were for the coming year and for the rest of this term,” Mr Albanese said.

The PM said he asked each of his ministers to do the same thing, to “get the best of the public service”.