A senior Australian public servant has penned a colourfully worded anonymous letter to Senator Bill Heffernan about being forced to wait at a Senate estimates hearing watching "you and your dipshit colleagues trying to score political points off each other".
The letter was read out during a rural and regional affairs and transport committee hearing on Monday – the same day it was reported that former Health Department secretary Stephen Duckett said estimates were disgraceful because senators had little care for the family lives of bureaucrats called to appear.
The letter, which started "Dear Senator Heffernan", said:
"I was one of the many senior public servants waiting around in the witness room [last February] to appear before you at committee.
"We waited and waited. The appearance times and appearance agenda went out the window.
"Three hours went by as we all sat around twiddling our thumbs and watched you and your dipshit colleagues trying to score political points off each other.
"You are a shithouse chair and clearly have no ability to stick to an agenda.
"God help the animals on your farm if you run the farm the way you run the Senate committee."
Senator Heffernan agreed the agenda "went out the window" during the hearing he chaired in February and gave what some might find a surprising response.
"I'm disappointed the person couldn't put their name and phone number," Senator Heffernan said.
"I wouldn't have bitten their head off ... historically people who tell me to get knotted, I often ring them ... and I would have said 'what could I do to help?'."
"I'm quite happy to talk to the person who unfortunately didn't sign his name to this."
The senator said everyone, including Senate committees, were frustrated with changes to the estimates hearing process in recent months that were not working.
"There are movements afoot to amend that," he said.
"We regret a lot of people come from a long way who didn't get to be witnesses because there's no control on the time."
