Page 4281 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 27 November 2013
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the writing on the wall that, when Ms Berry gets promoted over Dr Bourke, we will have the dynasty established at last. After Wayne Berry, Yvette Berry will now be running the ESA.
It did sound a lot like a valedictory speech. “I have done this, I have done that.” But what it did not do was take responsibility for the things that are affecting the human beings, the individuals, the things that are affecting the wellbeing of officers in Fire and Rescue, in the State Emergency Service, in the Rural Fire Service and in the ACT Ambulance Service. He just ignored those.
He said, “I built a great building at Fairbairn.” In fact, the Snow family and the Canberra International Airport built the great building. Their part of it was fantastic. Your part of it was appalling, because it will not meet the operational need of ESA into the future because it was built too small. We all know it was cut down. Yet again, it was another project you could not deliver on time and on budget, as just about your entire career is predicated on, Mr Corbell.
Since you first made that promise in about 2001 that the GDE would be delivered on time and on budget, you have failed, constantly. We asked you in estimates could you name one project, and you could not name one. And the list you gave back to me named mainly projects that had started in my term as the minister. Thanks for that validation of my efforts. But it does show that you cannot deliver.
The ESA, whether it is inside JACS or outside the government, will always have to pay for administration. It is a furphy to say it is cheaper to run it inside JACS. It has not proved cheaper for the individual who is taking you to WorkSafe. It has not proved cheaper to those—what is it, 56?—individuals who are now paying back because of the mismanagement. The improvement, which you said it was, has caused 56 individuals a great deal of stress and grief and will now cost them a great deal of money that they will have to pay back, money that they had a reasonable expectation to assume that they had earned fairly.
Because of your mismanagement, because you failed to direct your officers to deliver the services that you said your reforms would deliver, these people have suffered. That is why this should be back inside an emergency services authority.
ESA is being stifled in JACS. We know that JACS, in the 2012-13 budget, set up some draft terms of reference to look at capability but never followed through with it. We know that it is the JACS administration of ESA that has led certainly to a lot of the personnel problems that are occurring inside the Emergency Services Agency as it exists. Taking it outside JACS will give it greater operational independence and will give it greater access to you, minister.
Perhaps you do not want that. Perhaps you want the truth of what happens in the ESA filtered by your department so that you can throw up your hands and say, “Not me, I did not know.” You cannot do that. Ministerial responsibility says that you, minister, must make it your business to find out how your organisations are operating and make sure that they are operating well. And it is our business, as is clearly outlined in House of Reps Practice, to ask you the questions.
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