Kevin Rudd’s administration in Australia is going to continue to be of interest here because of his background as a bureaucrat, and his apparent dedication to bureaucracies that well serve the public.

The operative word there is “apparent.”

Time will tell the story, of course, but there’s a news item today–or technically, tomorrow, given that it’s now tomorrow in Australia–that gives pause regarding Rudd’s position relative to his bureaucrats. The Down-under Herald Sun informs us that Rudd has rejected the advice from bureaucrats in four of his departments in favor of accepting the advice of one of his agencies.

A leaked Cabinet document revealed that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was warned by his own department that FuelWatch could lead to “a small overall price increase” in the pump price.

Three other departments — finance, resources, and energy and industry — also argued against the scheme.

Treasurer Wayne Swan went into damage control, arguing the advice was “academic”.

He said the Government preferred the advice of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

“We backed it because there was strong advice from the ACCC — the consumer watchdog,” he said.

“It is true there was some bureaucratic advice against FuelWatch. I don’t believe it was well-grounded.

What makes this so interesting is the speech Rudd delivered not long ago to his senior bureaucrats about the importance of a professional bureaucracy, and its operating in [my words] a way that serves the public before any political ideology. Granted, there was the suggestion, however subtle or blunt, that Australia’s bureaucracies have not operated the last several years in a non-partisan fashion and that it needs to become grounded in sound, non-partisan policy and procedure. So perhaps there is a failure in four of the five agencies involved to be thus grounded.

But one must wonder about Rudd’s going against the advice of four of his senior bureaucrats, when he extols the value of a properly professional bureaucracy.

As I said, time will tell. For now it’s a very interesting wrinkle in the realms of bureaucratic reform efforts.

UPDATE 5/30/08: The Rudd administration has backed off its earlier stance. From AdelaideNow:

THE Government has backed down on parts of its controversial FuelWatch scheme, giving rural and regional areas the chance to opt out.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said local governments in the bush were free to disregard the price monitoring service.

“FuelWatch works best when you’ve got lots of petrol outlets,” he told radio 3AW in Melbourne this morning.

“In rural and regional Australia, where you have less petrol outlets, they have an opportunity to opt into the FuelWatch scheme if they want to, through their own local authorities, or remain outside the scheme.”

Peace.

Deborah Alicen