Federal Court’s glorified personnel manager gets inspiration from Qantas CEO Alan Joyce … Or maybe Alan Joyce anticipated almost the same words to be used in a memo to court staff … Copyright issue looms 

THE Federal Court has a relatively new senior official – Darrin Moy, Director People, Culture and Communications. This is long hand for Personnel Manager. 

Previously, he was General Manager People and Culture at Sydney Ferries, and before that Director of of People Strategy and Community at the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust. 

Darrin is the court’s hit-man, reviewing and reorganising operations across the “agency”. He also wears bow-ties. 

Among his responsibilities is to keep colleagues in the loop about things like their pay and leave entitlements. 

Enterprise Bargaining Update No. 1, that he issued on Oct. 20, is not very encouraging document. 

The financial position is tight. There will need to be “productivity initiatives” and permanent improvements in “output”. 

For any pay and condition improvements Darrin wrote that: 

“a business case will need to be developed to show that we have met the required suite of efficiencies that enhance the court’s operations and we are able to more efficiently meet our operational requirements – produce more for the same or less resources.” 

He went to some trouble to give a deeper layer of meaning to that depressing word, “productivity”:  

“Simply it is the best use the resources that we have to produce products and services. When we produce more products and services, with the same or fewer resources, we have achieved that.” 

He continued, with a few paragraphs that look eerily familiar:  

“Productivity can be seen across the economy. Years ago a top-of-the range laptop cost about $5000 and by today’s standards it would be an absolute brick. Current laptops run rings around what was possible years ago and now cost about $2000. Airfares are a similar story. Fifteen years ago, a flight from Sydney to Melbourne cost around $400. Then, you stood in a queue to check in, brought a magazine for entertainment and knew you’d be out of contact for the entire flight. Now, the average airfare is about $160.” 

That is an inspiring story about productivity. 

Strangely, it’s the same story the Qantas CEO Alan Joyce told in the Qantas magazine earlier the same month. Here’s Alan:  

“Years ago, I bought a top-of-the-line laptop that cost me about $5000. By today’s standards, it would be an absolute brick. My current laptop runs rings around it and cost about $2000.

Airfares in Australia have been on a similar trajectory. Fifteen years ago, a flight from Sydney to Melbourne cost around $400. Back then, you stood in a queue to check in, brought a good book for entertainment and knew you’d be out of contact for the entire flight.” 

It looks like Darrin just lifted Alan’s words, minus a personal pronoun or two and with a tweak here and there. Alternatively, Alan anticipated what Darrin was going to write to the Federal Court staff and by osmosis turned out the same stuff.  

Either way, surely the Federal Court, which has jurisdiction over intellectual property, can sort this out.