01278pab a2200133 454500008004000000100001800040245008200058260000900140300001200149362000800161520090900169650001801078773004801096180718b1999   xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d  aHawkes, David  aPartnership and politicisation: new relations for senior executives in the NT  c1999  ap.80-88  aSep  aDespite substantial evidence to the contrary, claims that the increasing emphasis on performance-based contracts and other changes in tenure arrangements for Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and other senior executives will inevitably lead to `politicisation' of the public sector persist. Those claims were particularly shrill during discussions of the new Commonwealth Public Services Bill in 1997 and have resurfaced in more recent commentaries. This paper argues that the claims have not been substantiated after more than a decade of experience in other jurisdictions; and that, in fact, the relationship between governments and their senior employees is more robust and honest, and therefore more appropriate to the times, than the critics would have us believe. While the argument is based on the Northern Territory experience, its application in other jurisdictions is also addressed. - Reproduced  aCivil service  aAustralian Journal of Public Administration