Transcript June Pallot
June Pallot:
Voice of Reason in
New Zealand Public
Sector Reforms
By
James Guthrie
Professor of Accounting, The University of Sydney
And
Susan Newberry
Associate Professor of Accounting, The University of Sydney
Invited plenary, 4th international conference on accounting,
auditing and management in public sector reforms EIASM,
Siena, September 7-9, 2006
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Summary
June’s work has been hailed
internationally as providing a voice
of reason and serious research from
a country that forged ahead with its
public sector reforms
Object: To outline key ideas from
June Pallot’s collected works
Her professional experiences
informed her understanding and
appreciation of theory, as well as her
understanding of research findings
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1. Introduction
Her vast array of
publications which
ranged across
scholarly refereed and
professional articles,
parliamentary papers,
book chapters, public
media commentary,
etc.
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1. Introduction
June was unique in that she
moved over two decades between
the world of public sector
management and accounting
practice and the world of national
and international scholarly
endeavours with ease and grace
A woman, who through her
energy and commitment,
confronted the NZ Treasury
reform agendas
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Sections
2.
June’s professional and academic career,
highlighting her contribution in building
academic networks and participation in practice
3.
A brief review of her scholarly publications
identified by major themes over two decades
4.
Identifies and discusses several scholarly themes
running through her work
5.
The conclusion highlights June’s role in New
Zealand’s public sector reform, both as
participant and observer, which provided both
critique and conscience
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2. A Brief History of June’s Professional
and Academic Career
A feature of June’s career was her desire to contribute not
just as an academic, but also to policy development and
debate.
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3. A Brief History of June’s Professional
and Academic Career
In 1993, New Zealand marked the
occasion of 100 years of being the
first country in the world to give
women the right to vote by striking
100 Suffrage Centennial medals.
June Pallot was the recipient of
one of these medals
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3. A Brief History of June’s Professional
and Academic Career
CV indicates…
building academic
networks
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4. A Brief History of June’s Scholarly Ideas
Early 1980s to Early 1990s
The need for change in
governmental accounting
and the need for
especially developed
concepts and accounting
applications for the
public sector
Philosophical work for
her PhD research
“Communitarian” perspective and a democratic belief
system that she retained for the remainder of her career
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3. A Brief History of June’s Scholarly Ideas
1990-2000: Tracking the Reforms
New Zealand’s leadership
in financial management
reforms meant that
international observers
showed keen interest in the
latest developments and
June’s updates
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3. A Brief History of June’s Scholarly Ideas
1994-1999: Internationalization of the NZ
reforms and why the spread of NPFM
Attempted to understand and
explain how ideas spread
Perhaps because of New
Zealand’s leadership, June
also provided more detailed
commentary and critique
about specific aspects
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3. A Brief History of June’s Scholarly Ideas
1986-1996: Stories
from the “inside”,
privatised entity
and the audit office
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3. A Brief History of June’s Scholarly Ideas
1996 - 2002:
Exploration of
transformation
within local
government
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3. A Brief History of June’s Scholarly Ideas
2001 - 2004: Outspoken critic of NZ public
sector transformation reforms
Later, damaging effects
became apparent both within
New Zealand and to outside
observers
June described some of
these effects
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4. June’s Research Directions
Importance of accounting
change and unique nature of
public sector in Pallot (1998)
This is a noted feature of
“New Public Financial
Management” reforms (Olson
et.al)
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4. June’s Research Directions
Accounting change and unique nature of public
sector
Accounting for infrastructure assets
Participated in and observed New Zealand’s
reforms
Call for a broader concept of governance
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5. Summary and Conclusions
The paper’s main objective was to outline key
ideas from June Pallot’s collected work
Her contribution spanned across theoretical and
practical issues associated with:
•
•
•
•
Governance
Accountability to Parliament
A contextual Public Sector Accounting
An enabling Public Sector Management and Accounting
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5. Summary and Conclusions
In one of her last published works (Newberry and
Pallot, 2005), June challenged the view that
technical accounting matters were not neutral and
politically insignificant
Highlighted how technical mechanisms have
contributed to the reduction in the size and capacity
of central government
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6. Future Research Directions
Government budgeting and what were the intended
consequences and—in practice—the actual outcomes
Business sector-derived accounting practices carry with
them underlying ideas about assets as private property,
about capital maintenance, about companies as
separate entities
The nature of public infrastructure and issues of
funding, renewal (PPP) and intergenerational equity
issues
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6. Future Research Directions
Issues of network governance and boundary issues
associated with control and public accounting in
public service delivery
Tensions between constitutional control and public
accountability
Governance issues, and a series of challenges for
accounting
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