Dennis Richardson on telling it like it is

Politics with Michelle Grattan · May 25, 2017 · 40m

Dennis Richardson, one of Australia’s most respected federal public servants, has just retired after an illustrious career. He served as head of the foreign affairs department, the defence department, and ASIO, and was Australian ambassador in Washington. He was also once chief-of-staff to then-prime minister Bob Hawke.

Richardson was never afraid to tell ministers what he believed they should hear, and any grudges they had as a result they apparently got over very quickly.

He urges bureaucrats to be forthright with their political bosses, but also to be strategic in how they go about trying…