Graduate Profiles
Terry Moran BA (Hons) 1973
THE (SECRET) SERVANT
Power without profile, for Victoria's senior administrator
Photo: Mike Rosel
Traditions of public service sit comfortably with Terry Moran. As does quiet influence.
Yet how few Victorians could recall the name or face of Victoria's top public servant?
That's how the Secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet prefers it: no news is good news. He supports the venerable customs of Westminster government, where the public servants exist to carry out policy, to give impartial advice but not sound bites.
The handful of speeches he gives each year tend to be on deep and meaningful administrative and policy issues to appropriate audiences. No media.
He values the old verities of the public service: anonymity, discretion, loyalty and professional support behind the scenes.
'It's inappropriate to have a public profile of any sort. Our democracy works best when ministers are the source of public comment, and the public service gets on with the job.'
If all that sounds a trifle old-fashioned in this era of tumultuous managerial change, be reassured that the quietly spoken Terry can also joke about his job being 'Chief Prodder' of the public service.
Terry didn't come up through Establishment ranks. He recalls happy days growing up in North Fitzroy where 'dad combined running the local SP book (illegal 'starting price' bookmaking) with a job in the public service at a very junior level'.
When the TAB strangled most SP bookies in the '50s, his father Les bought some shops and moved the family to the then outer suburbs, Reservoir.
Of Irish Catholic descent, Terry recalls the dying years of overt religious bigotries. 'At school we were encouraged to believe that Catholic boys faced sectarian discrimination. Catholics should focus on the professions and the public service because they were discriminated against in business and commerce.' Terry's first primary school was Catholic Ladies College, East Melbourne, once on the Park Hyatt site: 'I enjoy the symmetry of looking out my office window at the spires of my youth.'
'The Christian Brothers at Parade, East Melbourne, encouraged us to think of our obligations to society, to develop an ethical framework. That, and my family history, pointed towards public service; what I did at La Trobe compounded my interest in social issues.
'I enrolled at La Trobe as one of the first students in 1967. It was very intimate in that the University attracted a small but very diverse group. In the balance between studies and everything else, the latter received more attention. Hugo Wolfsohn, Ross Martin, Jean Martin, David Myers and many others made a direct and powerful impact on myself and others. The experience was exciting and I would take it again in preference to the law course I left to enrol in Social Sciences at La Trobe.'
He went to Canberra as a Public Service Board administrative trainee in 1973, at the start of the hectic Whitlam years, and in early 1974 was appointed private secretary to Health Minister Doug Everingham. The Dismissal of November 1975 saw him back at the PSB and on to policy jobs in the Health Department. He got bored with the Commonwealth Public Service in 1981, came back to Melbourne as a consultant, but was promptly lured back into government as an executive at the Victorian Public Service Board. He spent two years from early 1986 as head of John Cain's private office; headed the new State Training Board; became first CEO of the Australian National Training Authority, and was Queensland's Director-General of Education 1998-2000.
'I have had a fortunate career, having often been in jobs where I have been able to make a difference,' he says. 'It's not been about boring administration, but about improving things - the Benthamite concept that the role of government is to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number. Many mates from uni and the public service who followed similar careers also appreciate the quiet satisfaction of those jobs.'
He laughs at the hazards of the TV generations absorbing their civics knowledge from the Machiavellian manoeuvrings of Yes Minister or West Wing's manic policy-on-the-run. 'West Wing is fantasy, and Sir Humphrey Appleby would never get away with his manipulations in contemporary Westminster-style democracies. The days of the 'faceless bureaucrat as God' are gone. Yes, we serve ministers faithfully, and must be responsive. We have a very different role to those in political offices and must maintain the institutional memory of government.'
Terry rejects conspiracy theories of politicised public servants in Victoria. In his career he has served both sides of politics. 'Both Mr Kennett and Mr Bracks were insistent that governments expect frank and fearless advice from a non-aligned public service.
'To the benefit of Victorians, senior public servants now have contracts, and can be removed easily - but in 10 years I have not seen capricious removals emerge as the norm. I am confident people will be dealt with fairly.'
Each morning as he enters the Premier's Office, he passes the life-size statues of prominent premiers in Treasury Place - Bolte, Hamer, Dunstan and Cain. They seem to bridge the colonial era of the Old Treasury and its gardens with the new century, symbolised by the laptop that sits on the 19th century desk used by his predecessors.
The term serving as head of John Cain's private office updated Terry's insights into the political world.
How does he describe his role heading both the Department of the Premier and the Public Service? Briefly, as developing policy, running the systems to support the Cabinet, looking after the Arts and stimulating public service efficiency.
He enjoys decision-making, and particularly the satisfying opportunity to create and manage large policy projects with a medium to long-term focus: 'You can tackle issues beyond daily politics. Victoria's public service with only 10 departments is very different from other states, which may operate 30 or more departments. Our departmental secretaries have far broader jobs than interstate colleagues and work together very closely. There is a sense of collegiality.
'The recipe for sustaining a professional public service endures: recruit good people, develop them, and improve their skills in public policy and public sector management.'
Fortunately his Arts responsibilities and personal interests overlap. 'The access to this vibrant part of Victorian life is the fun part of the job.'
It's a seven-day-a-week responsibility. Key files and the mobile phone go with him on breaks to the small family cooperative farm north of Melbourne.
He is always happy to pass on another life lesson: 'Don't punt, dad always said. Punters always lose.'
The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences offers a wide range of courses, including the Bachelor of Arts, a range of 'specialist' and double degrees, Diploma in Languages, Research Programs, Masters by Coursework and Graduate Diplomas and Certificates. For more information, visit www.latrobe.edu.au/humanities/index.html, phone +61 3 9479 2023 or email: lhuss@latrobe.edu.au.