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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 12 Hansard (24 November) . . Page.. 3608 ..

MR KAINE (continuing):

coroner's perception after considering all of the evidence about the hospital implosion, have ramifications that go far beyond the single incident of the hospital implosion.

If only it could stop there, but it does not. Consider for a moment the wisdom of supporting a government responsible for the following series of politically inept events: The Kinlyside land deal, the Feel the Power of Canberra campaign, the circus surrounding the Futsal slab, the Bruce Stadium scandal and, finally, the hospital demolition tragedy - not a single event but a whole series of disasters from the point of view of the taxpayer and the community of the Territory. When you consider all of these failed projects, one conclusion is inescapable; that is, the totality of the arrangements put in place by the Chief Minister is grossly defective.

The machinery of government, the decision-making processes, the organisational arrangements of the Public Service, the senior staff appointments in that organisation are all the product of the Chief Minister herself. One has to wonder where she could have gained the personal experience and knowledge needed to create such arrangements. Research on the deplorable outcomes of her actions indicates that she possesses no such experience or knowledge. Mr Osborne this morning referred to some desirable characteristics of an effective public service. It is a pity Mrs Carnell has not cared to read some of those appropriate texts, because she would have had to conclude that government is not a business and delivering effective government is vastly different to running a suburban pharmacy.

The results of five years of Carnell meddling in public administration for which she has no qualification whatsoever are manifest. There has been a loss of expertise - it has all been contracted out. There has been a loss of initiative, from a public service that works in an atmosphere of fear and retribution. There has been a loss of objectivity. Senior public servants are now on contract and their tenure depends on keeping their Minister happy. There has been a loss of competence. The prerogative for competence now rests with the temporary consultants and contractors who more often than not come up with the outcome that the Government desires.

I make the point that most public servants sincerely do their best in their jobs, but they are severely constrained by the environment in which they have to work. The Chief Minister herself was the architect of these arrangements. At the same time, during the Carnell ascendancy there has been an obfuscation of the lines of authority and responsibility. Individuals get involved in matters when they should not - that intermeddling that the coroner identified. Political staffers in Ministers' offices act as though they are line managers rather than advisers. There is uncertainty as to who is responsible.

There is the Carnell propensity for shifting responsibility and authority across agency boundaries, contrary to the gazetted machinery of government arrangements, such as happened with the Bruce Stadium, the very fast train, the airport project, land management and the hospital implosion. Forget the gazetted machinery of government, the Chief Minister is going to run it. If you do not believe me, ask the Minister for sport, who has not had a single word to say about Bruce Stadium.

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