Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1995 Week 7 Hansard (18 October) . . Page.. 1797 ..

MR HUMPHRIES: It is in a press release under your name, Ms Follett. It says:

Even the Minister and his advisers seem unable to find anything good to write about it.

You did write this, I assume, Ms Follett. Mr Speaker, I felt quite chastised about this. I thought, "I really have let the side down here". I called in my public servants and I said to them, "I want to know why it is that we received this substandard report and paid $21,500 for it. Why did the Government receive this substandard report and pay for it? I want to know who was responsible. I am going to deal with that person". They were a bit sheepish to begin with, but they said, "Actually, Minister, you cannot sack the person who received this report and paid for it". I said, "Why not?". They said, "Because the person who received it and paid for it was actually Rosemary Follett". The report was actually received, they tell me, on 12 December 1994, and it was paid for - all $21,500 - by one Treasurer of the Territory, who shall remain nameless, on 4 January 1995.

Mr Speaker, I was a bit perplexed as to what to do about this "manifestly unsatisfactory" report that Ms Follett referred to. I quote again from her press release, which she does not seem to be too sure whether she put out or not. Ms Follett says:

It has done practically nothing to put flesh on to a report which I saw last year.

I think we might have seen the source of the problem. Ms Follett, this is the report that you saw last year. It is the report which was given to your Government on 12 December 1994 and which you thought impressive enough to pay for on 4 January 1995, to the tune of $21,500.

I then said to my officers, "If we have this substandard report, why is it that 27 of the 34 recommendations do nothing more than call for more studies or further assessments?". They said, "Minister, that is basically because of the terms of reference that were given to the consultant when the study was set up". I quote from that brief issued by the former Government. It says:

... tenders are sought for a study which will identify some key areas where there is good scope for employment growth within the ACT, provide a detailed justification, and recommend strategies for the further consideration of key areas. These key areas may become the subject of a more detailed strategy during 1995.

Indeed, Mr Speaker, they might have done, had the former Government had the good grace to acknowledge that the report that they commissioned, that they set the terms of reference for, was not, in their words, particularly satisfactory. Do not worry, Ms Follett. Do not despair. A chiropodist is on the way to you right now.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .