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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 1 Hansard (17 February) . . Page.. 208 ..

MR QUINLAN (continuing):

A basic primer on problem-solving says, "First of all, know the real problem". Therefore, you ask your client, "Who in God's name is responsible for this shambles? How did he get to be in charge of this enterprise? What are his claims to the job, his competencies, his experience?", and, maybe, "Have you considered asking him to stand aside while you try to get this business back on the rails? Do you have a person who can lead" - and I emphasise "lead" - "this organisation out of its downward spiral?". Your client then tells you, "Well, we have a person that makes stern demands and then makes sterner demands". Quite obviously, the enterprise has a chronic need of leadership to bring the people within the enterprise together in a cooperative, concerted effort to redress this catalogue of problems.

At this point, the client shows you some correspondence. A major block of employees have given notice that they have commenced prosecution proceedings against the board of management for coercion, based on threats to sell off the enterprise if they do not fall into line. Leadership!

About this time, you start to express to the owner grave concern. You examine some figures that have been put out and you find some public statement to say there is a cost overrun of $6m or $7m. This was later followed by: "No, we've jacked that up to $10m". Here you give the client his first bit of good news. This is an oldie but goodie. The business is projected to overrun $6m or $7m. The responsible director has said, "Let's make it $10m. So, at some future time we can have an heroic reduction back to $6m or $7m". Still we have grave concern.

Mr Moore: Don't attack public servants. Continue attacking me.

MR QUINLAN: I am not attacking public servants, Mr Moore.

Mr Moore: You are saying that they faked up the figures.

MR SPEAKER: Order! Mr Quinlan has the floor.

MR QUINLAN: Let me conclude by saying that you then remind your client of the old axiom, a fish rots from the head. If you do not recognise that, you do not solve anything. Mr Speaker, I commend the motion.

MR STEFANIAK (Minister for Education) (12.06): When I first looked at the motion, Mr Speaker, I wondered which Assembly I was in because, quite obviously, it would have been a very appropriate motion for the Second Assembly when we had our one and only Labor Health Minister who, I think, blew out every single budget he had. I seem to recall then an alarming increase in elective surgery waiting lists. I can certainly recall quite a lot of inability to deal positively with staff at the Canberra Hospital, and so it goes on.

Mr Speaker, I think that this ACT Government can be proud of the significant achievements that have been made in the health and community care sector in the first year of its second term, and I think that we can thank Mr Moore for his efforts there as Minister. What has happened is that he has successfully built upon the key reform directions pursued during the first three years of the Carnell Government in the

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