Page 1778 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 15 June 1993
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The terms of reference should have regard to past reviews and ... should include:
(a) determination of the most appropriate structure for the provision of services, including whether services should be collocated, consolidated or otherwise rationalised;
When we are talking about collocation, consolidation or rationalisation, that clearly includes the road rescue services referred to in the first paragraph of the motion. It goes on to talk about the level of services and the training of members of those services and, finally, it calls for the inquiry to be conducted by an independent person and to report by the end of 1993.
I defy anyone to look at the words of that motion and to come to the conclusion that it did not include, in the ACT's case, the police road rescue service, called the police rescue service, part of the current Australian Federal Police operation in the ACT. The Government presumably concedes that. This review does include the Australian Federal Police and, in particular, the Australian Federal Police's police rescue service. So it is now covered in this inquiry. Does it include the future way in which that particular force will do its job? Yes, very clearly, it does. It refers to "the most appropriate structure for the provision of services, including whether services should be collocated, consolidated and otherwise rationalised". That is also very clear.
The Minister was talking about making a decision concerning the way in which this service should be provided - whether it should be provided by the Australian Federal Police solely, by the ACT Fire Brigade solely, or by a combination of those two services. That clearly falls within the terms of this resolution. If that was not clear, it was certainly made clear in the subsequent comments by members of this Assembly about where they stood on this particular issue. It is pure sophistry on the part of the Government to pretend that it can proceed with a decision of this kind and at the same time have a real inquiry into the sorts of issues raised in that motion of 13 May. It is a complete joke. The Minister says, "The motion did not actually call on me not to proceed with the change to the road rescue arrangements". That is true; but, for goodness sake, is it not implicit in a motion of that kind to review a decision of that kind that you actually open that issue and examine it in a fair and open-minded fashion?
Mr Connolly: No.
MR HUMPHRIES: "No, it is not", says the Minister, "I was not supposed to examine it in a fair and open-minded fashion". How can you examine it in a fair and open-minded fashion if you have already made the decision? What is the point of calling the doctor if the patient is already dead? That is what you have done. You have said, "We will have an inquiry into whether we should have a police road rescue service", but they will be long gone by the time this inquirer is actually appointed and doing his or her job. The service to which we are referring and which was the principal focus of debate at this time in the Assembly will be gone. It will not exist any more. It will no longer be doing its job.
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