Gallagher says public servants' careers have been ruined by Senate estimates

Finance and Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher says the use of Senate estimates clips on social media has gone too far, warning that hard-working bureaucrats are being driven out of their careers by political attacks.

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In an interview with The Canberra Times about the heightened safety risks experienced by politicians as political debate became more polarised, Senator Gallagher said she knew public servants who had quit because they had been ridiculed online.

"I've worked with a couple of very senior public servants who have retired or left because they will not come to Senate estimates," she said.

"They won't come because they've been called a liar, and that matters to them. Their professional career is being apolitical public servants, and so to be just roasted and then clipped and called a liar ... That is an issue that we should think about a bit more."

Katy Gallagher appears at Senate estimates in February. Picture by Keegan Carroll

But, she said, while the public was entitled to "accountability and transparency" from the bureaucracy, the portrayal of estimates hearings "should be truthful".

"I don't think they should be clipped in a way that makes it tell a different story," she said.

Senator Gallagher shared her concerns while reflecting that the heat of political discourse online was spilling into real life, after the vehicle attack on independent Indi MP Helen Haines outside her electorate office shocked the nation.

The minister, whose evidence to estimates is regularly clipped by political rivals, said she had been accosted in public over how she was portrayed - such as when Nationals senator Matt Canavan posted his grilling her over a $30 billion federal budget overspend in February.

"I got absolutely inundated," Senator Gallagher said.

"This guy just comes up to me, I'm just at the supermarket, and starts abusing me and going, 'Where's our $30 billion? Where have you embezzled all this money?' In a really menacing way."

She acknowledged that being in government meant that "you're on the receiving [of criticism] and you're not giving it like the opposition".

But, she argued, lines of questioning at estimates were increasingly tailored towards "generating footage [to] make sure that you can whip up enough outrage with something and then move on."

"I believe in accountability and being accountable to the Parliament and trying to give as much information as we can, but we also have to protect ourselves and our institutions and the public servants that appear with us as well."

If public servants were expected to be "frank and honest," Senator Gallagher said, it was not helpful to "clip videos that make them look like fools, so that they get piled on."

"There's human consequences to this," she said.

After ACT independent senator David Pocock's social media post about Australia collecting more tax from beer than offshore gas exports went viral in February, she said, "the pile on that those public servants got was unbelievable."

"They have no right of reply," she said, citing a hearing where a public servant was "called a liar" and accused of having doctored a submission, which they later proved was untrue - but the damage was done.

"There's no consequence for senators and their behaviour. They can just throw this stuff out there and then move on as they do to the next video, and then meanwhile the public servant's left shattered, with their career ended."

David Pocock at estimates in 2025. Picture by Keegan Carroll

Senator Pocock agreed that politicians "need to take care in what and how we ask our questions, show respect to public servants and disagree civilly."

"Senate Estimates hearings are publicly broadcast for good reason and are an essential part of a strong, open democracy," he said.

"Care does need to be taken in how clips from senate estimates are cut and shared on social media. It's definitely something my team and I are mindful of when using clips from estimates."

Senator Pocock's office does not believe his beer tax post, or any others, made a harmful contribution to the political debate.

Senator Canavan, who became Nationals leader weeks after his post about the $30 billion overspend, was scathing of Senator Gallagher's comments.

"Is she seriously throwing mud about other Senators doing their job and holding the government to account? We need more accountability, not less, otherwise people will become more frustrated than they are."

Voters had "legitimate frustrations" with the government and the bureaucracy that needed to be "responded to through the normal Parliamentary process," Senator Canavan said.

"Seeking to subvert or reduce Parliamentary accountability will not help our social harmony."

He stood by his social media clip about Senator Gallagher, which related to a $50 billion overspend on government programs.

"She could not account for $30 billion of that figure. She is the Finance Minister. Such a failure deserves to be exposed and Senate Estimates is precisely about doing that."

Jane Hume at estimates in 2024. Picture by Keegan Carroll

Acting opposition finance and public service spokesperson and Liberal Party deputy leader Jane Hume said politicians' and public servants' salaries "are paid for by taxpayers".

"It is entirely reasonable for taxpayers to see how their money is being spent and to hold those who spend it to account," Senator Hume said.

"Australians have every right to see their government being held to account. If any Minister doesn't like the questions being shared, perhaps they should start by answering them."

Greens deputy leader and democracy spokeswoman Steph Hodgins-May said Senate estimates existed "so the public can understand how political decisions are affecting the departments that serve all of us."

"It's about the transparent expenditure of public money, and we deserve to know how well that's working," Senator Hodgins-May said.

"Every senator at the table is asking questions on behalf of the Australian people. It's not about blaming public servants - it's about getting clear, honest answers, even when they can be hard to get, and holding ministers accountable for the decisions they make."

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