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A ‘Super Bureaucrat’ to the Rescue? Push and Pull Factors in the Creation of the Queensland Ombudsman, 1963–74

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 December 2012

David Turton
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Extract

Reflecting on the first nine months of his role as Queensland's first State Ombudsman (then titled Parliamentary Commissioner for Administrative Investigations), David Longland noted that support for this independent watchdog of local and state government administration had not always been forthcoming:

When the question of the appointment of a Queensland Ombudsman was first raised, there was consistently an opinion that the services of an Ombudsman were not necessary, but with the growth of administrative action commensurate with the wider field of legislation born of a variety of governments, negative argument was reduced and eventually became positive argument. So effluxion of time brought the adoption of policy for the appointment of an Ombudsman by the Queensland Government.

Such an explanation belies the variety of factors that both aided and hampered the Queensland Ombudsman's creation throughout much of the 1960s and early 1970s. Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen made official announcement of Longland's appointment on 12 August 1974 through the provisions of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974 that had entered into force on 1 July 1974. Longland's appointment ended more than a decade of lobbying in Queensland, providing the community with an important means of addressing complaints of administrative error in an apolitical and non-adversarial manner. Most scholarship on this topic has assessed election promises, lobbying efforts from academics, internal political negotiations and the opposition of Joh Bjelke-Petersen to the Ombudsman concept. While each is an essential component of the Ombudsman's foundation in Queensland, there has been no effort to understand how the political debate was influenced by other policy actors, particularly high-ranking public servants.

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Articles
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Queensland Review , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , December 2012 , pp. 247 - 260
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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References

Endnotes

1 Annual Report of the Queensland Parliamentary Commissioner for Administrative Investigations, 1st October 1974–30th June 1975, 1.

2 ‘Mr Ombudsman how do you do?’, Courier-Mail, 13 August 1974, 1; ‘Will “guard our rights from infringement”‘, Courier-Mail, 13 August 1974, 2; ‘Ombudsman’, Age, 13 August 1974, 3; Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974 (Qld), s 5.

3 Wanna, John and Arklay, Tracey, The ayes have it: The history of the Queensland parliament, 1957–1989 (Canberra: ANU ePress, 2010), 330, 337, 354, 374, 426, 435–6Google Scholar; Lundvik, Ulf, The Ombudsmen in Australia (Edmonton: International Ombudsman Institute, 1984), 13–14, 24–5Google Scholar; Hughes, Colin, The government of Queensland (Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, 1980), 217Google Scholar.

4 Wanna and Arklay, The ayes have it, 330, 337, 354, 374, 426, 435–6.

5 Wanna and Arklay, The ayes have it, 354.

6 Wanna and Arklay, The ayes have it, 330, 337, 354, 374, 426, 435–6.

7 Lundvik, The Ombudsmen in Australia, 13–14, 24–5.

8 An exception is Wanna and Arklay, The ayes have it, 355.

9 Mark Lauchs, ‘Rational avoidance of accountability by Queensland governments’, unpublished PhD thesis, Queensland University of Technology (2006), 84–6.

10 Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974 (Qld), s 13(2)(6); Ombudsman Act 2001 (Qld), ss 16(1)(a), 46.

11 Lauchs, ‘Rational avoidance’, 85, 86.

12 ‘A new move to “Neutral ground”’, Courier-Mail, 1 October 1974, 9.

13 Colley, Linda, ‘The passing of youth: How removal of traditional youth recruitment policies contributed to the ageing of public service workforces’, Labour History, 101 (2011), 184Google Scholar; Wanna and Arklay, The ayes have it, 435; Lauchs, ‘Rational avoidance’, 82.

14 ‘Sir David Muir's death ends long public and arts career’, Courier-Mail, 24 March 1986, 3.

15 Wiltshire, Kenneth, ‘The public service’, in Patience, A. (ed.), The Bjelke-Petersen premiership 1968–1983: Issues in Public Policy (Longman Cheshire: Melbourne, 1985), 193Google Scholar.

16 Peter Coaldrake, ‘Parliament and the executive’, in Patience, The Bjelke-Petersen premiership, 234.

17 Coaldrake, ‘Parliament and the executive’, 233–4.

18 James Atkinson, ‘The Queensland Ombudsman and the review of administrative action’, unpublished Masters of Public Administration thesis, University of Queensland (1987), 20.

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20 Hughes, The government of Queensland, 217.

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22 Weeks, Kent, ‘Public servants in the New Zealand Ombudsman system’, Public Administration Review 29.6 (1969), 633–8CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Gellhorn, Walter, ‘The Ombudsman in New Zealand’, California Law Review, 53.5 (1965): 1155, 1165, 1183–4, 1186CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Anita Stuhmcke, ‘An empirical study of the systemic investigations function of the Commonwealth Ombudsman from 1977–2005’, unpublished PhD thesis, Australian National University (2009), pp. 217–23; Volker, Derek, ‘Just do it – how the public service made it work’, Australian Journal of Administrative Law, 8.4 (2001), 212Google Scholar; O'Hara, Glen, ‘Parties, people, and parliament: Britain's “Ombudsman” and the politics of the 1960s’, Journal of British Studies, 50.3 (2011), 702–3Google ScholarPubMed.

23 Weeks, ‘Public servants’, 634.

24 Longland, David, ‘Public administration today’, in Endowed Lectures 1974–1979 (Brisbane: Royal Institute of Public Administration Queensland Regional Group, 1979), p. 19Google Scholar. I wish to thank Dr Mark Lauchs for drawing this to my attention.

25 Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974 (Qld), s 24(1)(a–g); Ombudsman Act 2001 (Qld), s 49.

26 Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974 (Qld), ss 14, 15, 16; Ombudsman Act 2001 (Qld), ss 52–53.

27 Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974 (Qld), ss 18–23; Ombudsman Act 2001 (Qld), ss 27–34. Lane, William and Young, Simon, Administrative law in Queensland (Sydney: Lawbook Co, 2001), 206Google Scholar.

28 Ombudsman Act 2001 (Qld), s 12(c); Annual Report of the Queensland Ombudsman 2001–2002, pp. 7, 12–13; Stuhmcke, ‘An empirical study’, 263–5.

29 Wiltshire, Kenneth, Report of the Strategic Review of the Queensland Ombudsman (Parliamentary Commissioner for Administrative Investigations) (Brisbane: Government Printer, 1998)Google Scholar; Queensland Legal Constitutional and Administrative Review Committee, Review of the Report of the Strategic Review of the Queensland Parliamentary Commissioner for Administrative Investigations (Brisbane: Government Printer, 1999).

30 Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1974 (Qld), ss 12(2), 13(2); Ombudsman Act 2001 (Qld), s 16.

31 C.D. Wheeler, Secretary, Mundingburra Branch, Australian Labor Party, to Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Premier, correspondence 17 April 1974, Brisbane, Ombudsman Part 2, Queensland State Archives (QSA), item 541005; see also Disney, Julian, ‘Ombudsmen in Australia’, The Australian Quarterly, 46.4 (1974), 38–55CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

32 Nicolee Dixon, The Ombudsman Bill 2001 (Qld), 2001, Queensland Parliamentary Library Research Brief, no. 2001/28, 19.

33 Annual Report of the Queensland Ombudsman 2010–2011, 17, 21, 24–6, 142–3.

34 Lane, William and Young, Simon, Administrative law in Australia (Sydney: Law Book Co, 2007), 381–2Google Scholar.

35 Abedin, Najmul, ‘Conceptual and functional diversity of the Ombudsman institution: A classification’, Administration and Society, 43.8 (2011), 896–929CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Rosen, Lawrence, ‘Law and social change in the new nations’, Comparative Studies in Society and History, 20.1 (1978), 16CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Seddon, Nick, ‘Contracting out and administrative law’, Australian Institute of Administrative Law Forum, 26 (2000), 70Google Scholar. For example, the Energy and Water Ombudsman Queensland, What we do, retrieved 25 May 2012 from http://www.eoq.com.au/AboutEWOQ/Whatwedo.aspx; Australian and New Zealand Ombudsman Association, Chronology of establishment of the offices, retrieved 29 May 2012 from http://www.anzoa.com.au/ANZOA_Ombudsman-chronology_October2011.pdf.

36 Stuhmcke, Anita, ‘Privatisation and corporatisation: What now for the Commonwealth Ombudsman?’, Australian Journal of Administrative Law, 11.2 (2004): 102–3Google Scholar; Goldring, John, ‘The foundations of the “new administrative law” in Australia’, Australian Journal of Public Administration, 40.2 (1981): 79–102CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

37 Australian and New Zealand Ombudsman Association, Chronology of establishment of the offices, retrieved 29 May 2012 from http://www.anzoa.com.au/ANZOA_Ombudsman-chronology_October2011.pdf; Australian Capital Territory Ombudsman, About us, retrieved 29 May 2012 from http://Ombudsman.act.gov.au/pages/about-us; Ombudsman New South Wales, About us, retrieved 29 May 2012 from http://www.ombo.nsw.gov.au/aboutus/index.html.

38 Lyall, E.A., ‘An Ombudsman for the Australian Capital Territory?’, Australian Journal of Public Administration, 31.4 (1972), 322CrossRefGoogle Scholar; ‘27 want the job as Albert Shire's Ombudsman’, Courier-Mail, 24 August 1965, 1; ‘Let's follow Albert!’, Courier-Mail, 25 August 1965, 2.

39 Wanna and Arklay, The ayes have it, 203–32.

40 Gellhorn, ‘The Ombudsman in New Zealand’, 1164–6.

41 E. Daniels, Secretary, South East Queensland Federation of Progress Associations, to Francis Nicklin, Premier, correspondence 13 December 1966, Brisbane, Ombudsman Part 1, QSA, item 541004.

42 C.H. Curtis, Under Secretary, Premier's Department, to E. Daniels, Secretary, South East Queensland Federation of Progress Associations, correspondence 16 December 1966, Brisbane, Ombudsman Part 1, QSA, item 541004.

43 See various submissions contained in Ombudsman Part 1, 28 Aug. 1963–5 Jan. 1971, QSA, item 541004; Ombudsman Part 2, 6 May 1971–28 Aug. 1974, QSA, item 541005.

44 See, for example, Annual Report of the Queensland Parliamentary Commissioner, 1.

45 Stuhmcke, ‘An empirical study’, 217–23; Salier, W.A., ‘The New Zealand Ombudsman’, Sydney Law Review, 4.3 (1964): 422Google Scholar.

46 Whitmore, Harry, ‘Australian administrative law – a study in inertia’, Australian Law Journal, 36 (1963), 256Google Scholar; Crisp, Justice M.P., ‘Legal dynamics’, Australian Law Journal, 39 (1965): 84–5Google Scholar.

47 Newspaper clipping, ‘Qld. should appoint Ombudsman’, Courier-Mail, 21 July 1965, in Ombudsman Part 1, QSA, item 541004.

48 Minute, 2 January 1964, Australasian Public Service Commissioner's Conference Wellington, 4–6 Dec.1963, Queensland Public Service Commissioner's Department, Brisbane, Ombudsman Part 1, QSA, item 541004.

49 A.W. Munro, Deputy Premier and Minister for Industrial Development, to Charles Porter, General Secretary, Liberal Party of Australia (Queensland Division), correspondence 6 October 1964, Brisbane, Ombudsman Part 1, QSA, item 541004.

50 Ombudsman Association of Qld, Oh! For an Ombudsman! An explanation (Brisbane: Ombudsman Association of Queensland, 1969)Google Scholar.

51 ‘Case for Ombudsman “been sidetracked”‘, Courier-Mail, 21 March 1969, 10.

52 Notes of a deputation which the Honourable the Premier received from the Ombudsman Association of Queensland, Premier's Department, minutes 24 Aug. 1967, Brisbane, Ombudsman Part 1, QSA, item 541004; New Zealand Office of the Ombudsmen, History of the Office, retrieved 17 April 2012 from http://www.ombudsmen.parliament.nz/index.php?CID=100014.

53 John Seymour, Parliamentary Draftsman, to Francis Nicklin, Premier, memorandum, Parliamentary Draftsman's Office, 22 November 1967, Brisbane, Ombudsman Part 1, QSA, item 541004.

54 Solicitor-General, to Peter Delamothe, Minister for Justice and Attorney-General, memorandum Solicitor-General, 8 Mar. 1968, Brisbane, Ombudsman Part 1, QSA, item 541004.

55 Kennedy, Peter, ‘Recollections of a line manager’, Australian Journal of Administrative Law, 8.4 (2001), 195Google Scholar.

56 O'Hara, ‘Parties, people, and parliament’, 702–3.

57 ‘ALP defers Ombudsman ruling: Egerton, Jones disagree’, Courier-Mail, 8 February 1968, 3; ‘Letter to the editor: Ombudsman is a “necessity . . .”‘, Courier-Mail, 10 February 1968, 2.

58 ‘Who's afraid of an Ombudsman?’, Courier-Mail, 9 February 1968, 2.

59 See, for example, Queensland Parliamentary Debates 257 (19 October 1971), 1200–1; ‘C.P. debate on Ombudsman’, Courier-Mail, 16 May 1968, 8; ‘Ombudsman not for Qld’, Courier-Mail, 20 October 1971, 9.

60 ‘More pressure for Ombudsman’, Courier-Mail, 3 March 1972, 6.

61 See Queensland Parliamentary Debates 258 (10 November 1971): 1689–91; Newspaper clipping, ‘Revolt by Liberal on Ombudsman’, Telegraph, 10 November 1971, Part 2 Ombudsman, QSA, item 541005; ‘Getting closer to an Ombudsman?’, Courier-Mail, 15 March 1972, 2; ‘C.P. wants grievance settlers’, Courier-Mail, 18 March 1972, 16.

62 ‘Govt. parties want an Ombudsman in policy’, Courier-Mail, 30 March 1972, 3.

63 Stuhmcke, ‘An empirical study’, 219.

64 Cribb, Margaret, ‘Australian political chronicle: Queensland’, Australian Journal of Politics and History, 19.3 (1973), 423Google Scholar; newspaper clipping, ‘Queensland loses out on Ombudsman – squeeze shelves promise’, Australian, 15 August 1973, Ombudsman Part 2, QSA, 541005; ‘Senate candidate seeks Ombudsman’, Courier-Mail, 16 August 1973, 8; newspaper clipping, ‘“State will have an Ombudsman”‘, Telegraph, 16 August 1973, Ombudsman Part 2, QSA, item 541005; ‘Ombudsman to have wide say – Premier’, Courier-Mail, 23 March 1974, 3.

65 See, for example, Cribb, Margaret, ‘Australian political chronicle: Queensland’, Australian Journal of Politics and History, 20.2 (1974), 244Google Scholar.

66 Newspaper clipping, ‘Our Ombudsman is a step closer’, Telegraph, 14 November 1972, Ombudsman Part 2, QSA, item 541005; ‘Look at job of Ombudsman’, Courier-Mail, 20 September 1972, 3; ‘Premier's portrait of perfect Ombudsman’, Courier-Mail, 9 January 1973, 3.

67 Newspaper clipping, ‘Finding the best man to help you’, Sunday Mail, 13 August 1972, Ombudsman Part 2, QSA, item 541005.

68 Annual Report of the Queensland Parliamentary Commissioner, pp. 3, 7.

69 Queensland Parliamentary Debates, 264 (4 April 1974), 3612–13, 3629; newspaper clipping, ‘State Mr. Fixit will take you seriously’, Telegraph, 13 August 1974, Ombudsman Part 2, QSA, item 541005.

70 Gellhorn, ‘The Ombudsman in New Zealand’, 1155, 1165, 1183–4; Weeks, ‘Public servants in the New Zealand Ombudsman system’, 636.

71 Jack Richardson, ‘The Ombudsman's place among the institutions of government – past, present and future’, Australian Journal of Administrative Law, 8.4 (2001), 184.

72 Richardson, ‘The Ombudsman's place’.

73 Rowat, Donald, The Ombudsman plan: The worldwide spread of an idea (Latham, MD: University Press of America, 1985), 140Google Scholar.

74 Richardson, ‘The Ombudsman's place’, 184.

75 Annual Report of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administrative Investigations 1978–1979, 4, 5, 9–10; Commonwealth Ombudsman Annual Report 2008–09, 30; Annual Report of the Queensland Ombudsman 2008–2009, 3, 68.