Page 3160 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 24 September 2014
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There is still a question about the availability of trained incident management officers, whether we have the appropriate number so that we have 24-hour coverage during the fire season. There were funds for training in the ACT Rural Fire Service. There was the acquisition of a second bulk water carrier and movements of fire tankers that were sent from the most dangerous sector in the ACT, the west and north-western front, to one of the quieter sectors. Apparently ministers did not know and, I think, did not care less.
Then there is today’s motion. The saga continues. And it is a saga now. It is a saga of mismanagement and disinterest from a minister who is infatuated with building his train set instead of having his priorities right in providing essential services and ensuring that they are always available to the people of the ACT.
The saga of the minister allowing a toxic culture to occur in the ACT Ambulance Service goes on. We had questions this week. We find out that with the report that was due in August, the task is now so big that the individuals conducting the review asked that it be extended to the end of the year. How bad is the toxic culture inside the Ambulance Service, and why is it allowed to get to this level? Why did it take so long for a minister to respond? Because he is distracted.
There was the failure to investigate bullying in ACTAS, which led to the provisional improvement notice, but they have not even investigated a claim because it was not in writing. That is in contradiction of one of the guidelines that the government has, but not necessarily the guidelines that the department ran off. Isn’t it great to have conflicting guidelines where you can pick and choose when one applies to you and when one does not on an issue as important as bullying? Again, this is a minister who is distracted.
There were complaints lodged with the Fair Work Ombudsman, again much to the shame of the service and I think against the reputation of a minister who has allowed that to happen despite repeating warnings and questions from individuals about what was going on inside the service.
Then there is the failure to accurately upgrade the VACIS electronic case management system. The minister came back and gave some additional information. I got one of the numbers wrong; I do apologise. But he has not told people whether the issue has actually been resolved, whether our paramedics are still using paper records instead of electronic records inside the system. Again, it goes to procurement. I understand that staff were brought in to fix it from interstate, so the question is about another procurement issue.
Then there is the ongoing six-year failure to procure new uniforms for ACTAS personnel. The minister was quite gleeful in his excuse for this one: it was not really his fault; the firms went broke. Imagine the minister coming back here and telling us that the firm they had procured to deliver capital metro had gone broke. What is your procurement process like when you cannot even pick a firm that is solid enough to deliver uniforms to the Ambulance Service? Maybe once is an accident, but to have it happen twice, and six years later still not have uniforms for our paramedics, is just a disgrace. Again, it shows a minister who is not paying attention to the detail that he should.
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