This is a special collection of papers, representing a range of views about diverse subjects by people whose opinions matter – not necessarily because they are ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, but because they are, for the most part, in the public eye and, most importantly, because they have the capacity to influence the shape and the reality of public policy.

With the exception of Professor Geoff Gallop and Professor Mark Moore, they are not practicing academics. Most, including Geoff Gallop, are either former or serving ministers of state. Two – Lynelle Briggs and Mark Prebble – are senior government officials with deep understandings of the historical and contemporary configurations of the public sectors in Australia and New Zealand, respectively.

All are vitally concerned with issues of policy development, practice, implementation and performance. Each has a story to tell, with insights that can only be drawn by those working at the ‘sharp end’ of policy. In slightly different ways, all are policy ‘insiders’, and this gives their views special resonance and relevance.

Jon Stanhope, Amanda Vanstone, Geoff Gallop, Sharman Stone and Bob McMullan may represent different sides of Australian politics, and they might each champion different views about matters of public policy, but they share the experience of shaping, implementing and defending policy decisions. They understand the ‘realpolitik’ of the policy process better than even the most avid academic commentator on Australian politics. Political realists they may be but, as key actors in the policy process, each has also brought fundamental ideals and values to bear in the formulation of policy.

Lynelle Briggs and Mark Prebble are, respectively, influential in their own right in the national public sectors of Australia and New Zealand. In a way, they are the ‘torch bearers’ for the traditional values of public service – values of impartiality, quality and timeliness. They also operate at the vanguard of emerging public service values and their leadership is essential in ensuring their respective public service cultures adapt positively and constructively to environmental change. They are both experienced professionals who work in a profoundly political ‘industry’ and, therefore, what they do is, in a sense, imbued with politics.

Mark Moore, as many will agree, is in a class of his own in such illustrious company. Mark has never been a politician, in the conventional sense of the word. Instead, he is an academic of considerable influence whose ideas have captured the attention and interest of politicians and bureaucrats in his native America and abroad. It is the force of his ideas – his reshaping of the traditional or orthodox narrative of public policy and public service – rather than the nature of his office, that wields influence. I believe the full extent of that influence has yet to be realised.

I trust that readers will be provoked, intrigued, challenged (and never bored) by this important collection of ideas. The ANZSOG Public Lecture series provides a unique and important opportunity for people of influence to share their thoughts and impressions in a public forum. This and future collections of ANZSOG public lectures will ensure that their thoughts will reach an even wider audience.

Professor John Wanna
Sir John Bunting Chair of Public Administration
ANZSOG, ANU