Page 3161 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 24 September 2014
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There is the failure to procure fully working defibrillators. Whoever heard of buying a lifesaving system that did not work, and took months and months to resolve the issues when it was well known around the world, through recalls and bulletins, that these machines were not working? It goes to the oversight that is going on in emergency services, and it goes to the heart of a minister who obviously is not interested enough to say, “Just fix this.”
Then there is allowing a bullying, sexist and misogynistic culture to exist in the ACT fire and rescue service. This is just appalling. A fire officer who makes a complaint, I understand, is still awaiting resolution of some of the issues that were raised, yet the individual responsible for filming that officer in a cubicle gets a payment on the way out because he was stressed. That is how the ESA operates under this minister. If anybody thinks it is appropriate to pay an officer of emergency services who put a recording device in the female toilets because he was stressed, they have really got to question the leadership being shown by this minister.
Then there are the issues concerning the deployment of a Bronto from New South Wales during the Sydney Building fire earlier this year. Again we have conflicting stories here. I have now got three individuals who have told me that the story the minister tells is not correct—that the commissioner did go onto the fire ground, he did tell the incident controller to move the pumper, he was rebuffed and he then went outside and apparently told the police officers that the Fire & Rescue officers were not fighting the fire properly because he knew better.
Then there is an issue of whether or not a new Bronto was ordered from Sydney, a replacement Bronto. We have arrangements. If they need a high-lift platform in local areas, we will often lend it to them from our service. That is a great thing. Cooperation across the borders is a good thing, because fire does not know or recognise borders. But there is now some doubt in my mind as to what the minister told the Assembly yesterday. We will pursue that.
This is the litany that just grows and grows. It started years ago, before many members were here. The minister had to ditch $5 million worth of payments for FireLink, another procurement which collapsed and failed.
There is big concern in many of the services about the integration of the four ESA component organisations, despite the minister’s guarantee that it would never happen on his watch. What we are hearing are those words: “Yes, but behind the scenes we need to do this, and behind the scenes we need to ensure that.” Volunteers in the RFS particularly are concerned that they will simply be swallowed into Fire & Rescue, which is not what they volunteered to do.
Then we get to the incomplete enterprise bargaining agreements for ESA staff, particularly the Ambulance Service. It was hilarious yesterday in question time. The minister answered “soon” to the very first question, as to when it would be completed. But then he read his brief and realised that it had been completed. It had gone to be signed off. You could see the shock on his face. It turned to glee; it turned to light. He had a real answer. He did not know. He was distracted.
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