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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 1 Hansard (18 February) . . Page.. 31 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

Mr Berry said, I think, in an article in the newspaper that we should direct the Health Complaints Commissioner or direct the Medical Board. There is something called legislation, and both the Medical Board and the Health Complaints Unit, as you know, Mr Speaker, but Mr Berry does not know, are at arm's length from government. There is no capacity, nor should there be, for the government of the day to direct the Health Complaints Commissioner to go down a particular course. The whole point of the legislation is that we have an independent commissioner who must be allowed to conduct his inquiries in the way that he and his office see fit.

MR OSBORNE: I have a supplementary question, Mr Speaker. Thank you for that, Mrs Carnell. I am pleased that you agree totally. Is it true, Mrs Carnell, that there is only one investigator attached to the Health Complaints Commissioner's office working on this matter?

MRS CARNELL: I have to say that I do not know how many people the Health Complaints Commissioner has on this particular case. It would be normal on one case to have one particular officer in charge of the investigation. That would be a normal approach, I think, for most investigating authorities. I am certainly happy to find out for Mr Osborne. Again, we have to remember that the Health Complaints Unit is a separate body set up by legislation of this house, at arm's length from government.

MR CORBELL: Mr Speaker, my question is to the Chief Minister. Chief Minister, I refer you to a recent statement by the Australia Institute, which appeared in the Canberra Times on 10 February this year and in which the claim was made that public servants on contract are less likely to give frank and fearless advice. That is reinforced by comments in today's Canberra Times by retired Public Service Commissioner Denis Ives, who claims that senior public servants on contract "would create a mercenary ideology and undermine the Senior Executive Service". Chief Minister, given that all of the ACT's senior bureaucrats are now on contract and are operating in an environment of fear and intimidation, an environment in which they are forced to publicly cover for unpopular Government policies or are made scapegoats for Government mismanagement, as in the case of the Director of Mental Health, how can you be guaranteed that the advice supplied to you is truly in the best interests of the Territory and not just tailored to avoid your displeasure?

MRS CARNELL: Again, I would like to thank the member for his first question in this place. I have to say, though, that it was a very strange first question. All I can say, Mr Speaker, is that he obviously has not had much to do with our senior public servants. The day we get advice that is not fearless and frank will be the day they simply are not performing to their performance contracts. Their performance contracts, as you would be aware, require exactly that: Frank and fearless advice.

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