Page 2606 - Week 08 - Thursday, 14 August 2014
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has been a great success. It is a shame that it has taken 13 years for the minister to be able to say that he has finally delivered a project on time or, indeed, early, on budget and on scope.
I say to all the professional members of our emergency services, the full-time members, whether they be in the Ambulance Service, the Fire & Rescue service, the paid staff at the State Emergency Service and the Rural Fire Service, well done for all that you do.
I know that there is some turmoil internally, again with discipline actions in, for instance, the Ambulance Service where a lot of very senior and long-serving officers were suspended and left hanging, in one case for up to a year. One of those officers moved on because he could not put up with it. Another, I understand, has now taken a package. That is a shameful way in which to handle internal disciplinary actions inside the Ambulance Service. Apparently there was a bit of a joke or consternation, and inappropriate remarks were made. Nobody should put up with inappropriate remarks. But not to be able to deal with that issue in a year and to have these people languishing, I understand at full pay, while the issue is not dealt with—and if the government’s way of handling internal complaints, personnel complaints, is just to hang people out to dry until they get so frustrated they quit—again is very poor management.
I understand there is at least one other case in the Ambulance Service where the officer has now been almost 55 or 60 weeks on suspension, on full pay. We are not getting the benefit of that officer’s experience. We are paying for somebody else to do his job. This is the officer that I think complained to WorkCover and to Fair Work Australia, and in both cases his complaints were validated.
We have significant problems here, and I think it behoves the minister when he responds to stand up and tell us how he is going to fix that. Referring people to websites is not how you fix this. Giving people who have caused grief payouts as they leave the service is not how you are going to fix this. Ignoring it for more than 12 months is not how you fix it. Leaving officers languishing on full pay while, for reasons unknown, you cannot resolve complaints for more than 12 months is not how you fix the toxic culture in the management of the Ambulance Service.
It is important that it is addressed, because the last thing any of us need is an ambulance officer turning up and being distracted because it has been a bad day at the office and they have taken that into the field. I know they do not. I know they try hard not to do that, but it does put a degree of pressure on ambulance officers that they do not need. And it just should not exist. We all agree bullying should not be tolerated. Sort it out, make sure you have a clear process and a quick remedy to make sure that justice is done for all.
That said, again, as I was saying, to all our firies, to our ambos, to our SES volunteers and the RFS volunteers, well done for all you do in the service of your community.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Minister for the Environment and Minister for Capital Metro) (3.45): I am
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