Page 2983 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 20 September 2006
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capability. They had not been implemented at all. That is partly the reason for the debacle of 2003. We had the wakeup call, and it was ignored. We suffered in January 2003.
Yes, there are a number of initiatives that the government has put in place. As I always do, I acknowledge good initiatives. Thanks for the CAFS tankers, thanks for the extra support vehicles for the SES which, again, the government initially resisted. When I, working with Glenn Parry and the CFMEU, got the first of those vehicles, we proved that it met operational needs. We used one for about two weeks and then had to fight the government to give it to them for nothing. That is the laggard response, the tardy response, that we see from the government all the time in this matter.
Mr Pratt points out the lack of progress. That has not been answered. He points out the lack of targets, goals and directions. That has not been answered. Instead of answering the question and giving an honest assurance to the people of the ACT that progress is being made and that it is getting better, we change the whole nature of the motion to a list. “Pat ourselves on the back. Aren’t we good fellows? Well done.” That does not answer the question, does not make it go away, does not make it better and does not make it right. The motion points out the failures of this government and establishes doubt.
One of the dot points on the last page of the amendment is: established an emergency coordination centre for incident response. We have got the new headquarters coming at Fairbairn. How much of that will go forward? I am sure Mr Pratt has got a few words to say on it when he finishes. Is there enough budget left for it to go ahead? What are the terms and conditions of the lease? Have they been determined yet? Given that the Emergency Services Authority has mismanaged its funding twice over the last two financial years and has come back for an additional $5 million in each of the last two financial years because they could not cope, could not deliver and had not done the work under the previous leadership, there is serious doubt about their ability to deliver it in the coming season. I have got no doubt the paid workers of the RFS will do a great job; they are great people. They need the strategic direction and the support that the bushfire plans would give them.
We see it again today with Rhodium: shareholders’ lack of interest. It is quite interesting. There is a pattern here. With Rhodium, the Auditor-General says that proper policies were not put in place so that they could be implemented. What do we find in the Emergency Services Authority? Proper financial controls were not put in place so that financial control could be implemented.
Have we got a pattern here? Both organisations were established by the Stanhope government; both organisations have not put in appropriate controls; both organisations have failed to deliver financial targets. We see this pattern where we cannot fund or complete our capital works and cannot set up new emergency headquarters because we do not have the funds. We have got staff who are concerned about their future because the budget has not been determined yet and they are not sure which staff will have to go. I am told that staff from the ESA will go.
It is like a big balloon. Let us look at the smoke and mirrors. It is a balloon. We huff and puff until the balloon gets so big that it bursts. That is not what the people of the ACT
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