Page 2192 - Week 08 - Thursday, 10 September 1992
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Government Service - Provision of Information to Assembly Members
MR WESTENDE: My question without notice is directed to the Chief Minister. I refer the Chief Minister to an article on page 3 of today's Canberra Times about the issuing of directives to the public service. Will the Chief Minister explain to the Assembly her understanding of the concept of ministerial responsibility under the Westminster system of government?
MS FOLLETT: I think that what Mr Westende is getting at is the exact same point that Mr Kaine raised in his earlier question without notice. It relates to the ability of Ministers to issue instructions to the police on operational matters. Madam Speaker, I say again that we simply do not have that ability, any more than we have the ability to issue instructions to the police not to carry out their investigations in a particular way. Madam Speaker, I believe that Mr Westende's question is a little bit misdirected. Quite obviously, the buck stops with Ministers. That is quite obvious to me. We take responsibility for these matters. But on the question of initiation of a public service inquiry by the public service, Madam Speaker, I have made my position and the Minister's position abundantly clear.
Emergency Rescue Services
MS ELLIS: My question is directed to the Minister for Urban Services. What is the Government doing to resolve the longrunning dispute between the ACT emergency services?
MR CONNOLLY: I thank Ms Ellis for the question. I think Mr Humphries asked a question on this some time ago. Since then I have met with both the Chief Police Officer and the Fire Commissioner and with the Australian Federal Police Union and the United Firefighters Union. We will be modifying the existing agreement, which was recently renewed in order to ensure continuity for 12 months, so that on both sides of the lake the nearest emergency vehicle on the scene with a trained crew can get to work and hand over when the service with primary responsibility arrives.
Let me explain what this means. For the southern side of Canberra, for South Tuggeranong, for example, there are in fact three fire stations in the Tuggeranong Valley but two in South Tuggeranong - at Chisholm and Greenway. If there is a serious motor vehicle accident in South Tuggeranong and a fire tender gets to the scene before the police, which is highly likely because the police rescue vehicle is stationed at Weston, that trained fire crew can get to work to stabilise the vehicle, gain access for the paramedics and start some rescue procedures until the police arrive. The police will then take primary responsibility. On the north side of Canberra the Fire Brigade have primary responsibility. If the police rescue vehicle is closest to the scene on the north side of Canberra - it is regularly on the north side because the police rescue squad are directed not only to road rescue; they have a range of other responsibilities - and they get there first, they will get to work and hand over to the fire service when they arrive on the scene.
By overcoming the artificiality of the arrangement we inherited from the Alliance, we will avoid the absurdity of the potential situation where a trained crew has to stand by and watch inactivity while people are trapped in a motor vehicle. I think this is a commonsense solution. I am pleased that the police union and the
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