No Minister

Nothing prepares a person for the job of chief of staff to a Commonwealth Minister. There are no professional development courses, no specialist recruitment agencies and no training manuals.<br/>It was into this vortex that Allen Behm became chief of staff to Greg Combet in 2009, the minister responsible for managing carbon pricing and the pink batts crisis.<br/><br/>A seasoned troubleshooter, Behm has an uncanny ability to anticipate and deflect political crises. By his measure success as a chief of staff is being an invisible force.