Terry Hogan compares the relationships between departmental heads and their Ministers at both the state and federal levels of government. He notes that while Commonwealth department heads typically dealt more in strategic policy, they tended to be more removed from practical application of policy than their state counterparts. He also comments on the relative quality of Ministers at state and federal levels, and on the introduction of ways to encourage policy coordination.
Terry Hogan recalls his move back to Canberra in 1981 to take up the position of research officer with the Treasury Department in the Commonwealth Public Service. He outlines the public service roles he held over the following seven years, rising to the position of Assistant Departmental Secretary. He describes moving back to Grafton in 1988 with his young family to start up a small business.
Peter Coaldrake discusses his childhood and education. He was born in Marrickville, NSW, his adopted parents were Anglican missionaries so he spent his early years moving about. He went to boarding school in Charters Towers and then to James Cook University in Townsville. He describes the benefits of undertaking work while studying his arts degree. After finishing his degree he began working for the public service during the Whitlam years in the federal Department of Urban and Regional Development (DURD).
John Strano summarises his early years of schooling which lead to university and then a job in the Commonwealth public service. He describes his early career in the Department of Trade and his experience of the shift to a global trade market and the emergence of Asia as a major trading partner.
Ross Rolfe comments that he studied history at the University of Queensland and then joined the graduate program of the Commonwealth Public Service in Canberra in the federal Department of Aboriginal Affairs. When the Queensland government changed in 1990 he moved to the equivalent department in Queensland, the Department of Family Services and Aboriginal and Islander Affairs.
