Raising the bar in the public sector is a complex topic: there are jokes about lazy public workers all over the (western?) world. There's no competition and the goals aren't as clear as profit VS loss.
But if you refuse to have competitive wages, no competent software engineer will want to work in government. Then you get some contractor job from a consulting company and good luck with that: many are happy to send a handful of junior developrts to fill their multi million contracts, with their seniors hopping in just enough time to justify the billing.