01867pab a2200169 454500 180718b1997 xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d Shergold, Peter The colour purple: perceptions of accountability across the Tasman 1997 p.293-306 Aug This article explores the changing rhetoric and substance of accountability in the relationships between parliamentarians and public servants in what Alex Matheson terms the `purple zone' - where the `blue' of political strategy and `red' of public administration merge in `strategic conversation'. The primary focus is on current developments in Australia. As the Westminster system of governance, and the role of public administration within it, undergo profound transformation, the prerogatives of elected parliamentarians (in the blue corner) and the responsibilities of career public servants (in the red corner) are changing fundamentally. In Australia and New Zealand the increasingly complex relationships that exist between government, parliament, public service and the wider community challenge the traditional notions of accountability. Both the lines of accountability, and its standards, are under challenge. The acceleration of Australia's move to contract out the delivery of government services is creating new arenas of creative tension between administrative review and management for results. Public service agencies are increasingly perceived to be themselves in a contractual relationship with government. There is a risk that the public good may become subverted by private interest. How will we ensure that agencies will `not contract out responsibility at the citizen's expense'? - Reproduced Public administration Civil service Public Administration and Development 34886 34886 34886 0 0 0 0 IIPA IIPA 2018-07-19 Volume no: 17, Issue no: 3 AR35123 2018-07-19 2018-07-19 AR