Page 3484 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 22 August 2018
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MR COE: The truth is: this government has been in power for so long that they think they can direct the public service to do whatever they want. The public service did exactly what they should do, that is, provide the data to the minister for this question on notice so that the opposition and the Canberra community can hold them to account. It is simply wrong that this government would delay the release of that data for a hundred days and then make up excuses as to why that happened.
It was only because of the diligent work of Mrs Jones and the freedom of information request that we actually got to see the full picture. It does make you wonder how many other times when you put in questions on notice do you get this sort of meddling with the figures or meddling with the context, to use the minister’s term.
Whilst the doctoring of the answer is one thing the real issue is, of course, the state of the Ambulance Service and the state of emergency services in the ACT. My message to all those front-line workers is that the opposition, the Canberra Liberals, will continue to do all we can to make sure that you get a better deal to do your job. You put yourselves in harm’s way and you deserve to be backed by a government. Instead, you are not getting the support you need.
If anybody in the service is listening to this debate or watching it online, please do let us know what you expect from your government. Let the Liberals know how we can support you better, because it is clear that the government does not want to do that. It is clear they do not want minimum crew levels. It is clear they do not want to actually back you up. It is clear they do not want you to have the resources that you need. Please do get in touch and let us know what you need so that we can advocate for all the services and all the resources that you should have at your disposal.
MS STEPHEN-SMITH (Kurrajong—Minister for Community Services and Social Inclusion, Minister for Disability, Children and Youth, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations) (6.03): I move the amendment circulated in my name:
Omit all words after “That this Assembly”, substitute:
“(1) notes that:
(a) the Minister for Police and Emergency Services provided an answer to Question on Notice (QON) 662 on 31 January 2018, prior to commencement of the 2018 sitting period;
(b) the answer provided to QON 662 enabled the Assembly to have two discussions on 14 and 21 February 2018 concerning ambulance crewing;
(c) since August 2017, the Minister for Emergency Services has answered 12 QONs concerning ACT Ambulance Service (ACTAS), including questions relating to crewing and shifts;
(d) a further seven questions have been answered on notice arising from the recent budget estimates hearings concerning ACTAS;
(e) advice from ACTAS is that preparing information relating to dates and times of shifts concerning minimum crewing requires considerable amounts of staff time;
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