Page 87 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 10 February 2015
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It was quite appalling. It was not the fault of the Tuggeranong Community Council, and I can assure the minister that issuing a media release does not count as community consultation either.
Let us also recall that last year Minister Burch criticised the Tuggeranong Community Council’s stance on light rail. As members of her own electorate, and as voluntary committee members representing the views of the members of their organisation, Minister Burch thought it was correct to criticise them.
There are multiple instances, well documented, of failures by this minister, and there is a lack of confidence in this minister.
MR WALL (Brindabella) (4.39): Once again, I and my Liberal colleagues are here finding ourselves having to move this substantive motion against Minister Burch. Ms Burch’s constant inability to manage her portfolios means that ultimately her failures impact on the residents of the ACT. The constant public exposure of her mishandling of issues is a reminder that the people of the ACT—in particular those that reside in my electorate, also her electorate, Brindabella—are paying the ultimate price for her shortcomings.
It was just this time last year that such a motion was moved here against Minister Burch and a detailed account of her ineptitude was read into Hansard to bear witness. On that occasion, I stated my view that Ms Burch is a minister who is not across her brief, a minister who is out of her depth and completely propped up by her directorate and staff.
Time and time again I have witnessed that it is not uncommon for the minister’s staff to continually prompt or gesture to her during a public hearing, meetings or forums and also to ensure that the right things are said and that no stuff-ups occur—not to mention the interference that is run on her behalf by directorate staff at any kind of public committee meeting; it is a matter of course for them simply to minimise the exposure this minister has to any kind of scrutiny.
In an email sent to me prior to the closure of ACT government-operated respite centres at the end of 2013, staff from Disability ACT said, and I quote from a letter which I have previously quoted in Hansard:
Everything you have heard about Disability ACT is true.
It is a toxic sinking ship with only the rats aboard.
The bullying and waste that has gone on in this government unit is beyond anything you could imagine.
The letter goes on to say:
Administrative errors have seen Disability ACT fall deep into debt. One Director talks about it quite openly as the reason for not replacing staff that leave. You have one person doing three jobs. Staff are taking personal leave for stress. And they are stressed. This environment is hell.
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