A top public servant has said he was uncomfortable with the conclusions in an audit which had concluded the purchase of an Australian-first hybrid electric fire truck breached ACT procurement rules.
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The Auditor-General's report found the procurement process for the Rosenbauer fire truck breached the ACT's procurement rules, relied on scant research and was plagued by poor record keeping.
Justice and Community Safety Directorate director-general Richard Glenn said he had a "difficulty" with a number of conclusions in the audit report, but did not dispute the findings about poor record keeping.
"I'm not entirely comfortable with some of the characterisations his report makes around the process for the procurement of the firetruck," Mr Glenn told an ACT budget estimates hearing on Tuesday.
"We've made those clear to the auditor-general and he takes a contrary view but we will reflect upon the comments that have been made in the report, and we'll seek to incorporate those into our processes going forward."
Mr Glenn said he was accountable for any governance shortfalls in relation to the procurement process.
Meanwhile, Emergency Services Minister Mick Gentleman told the hearing he had directed Mr Glenn to provide updates on the implementation of recommendations from a review of executives within the Emergency Services Agency so cabinet would remain informed on the progress.
Mr Gentleman had last week said he did not have oversight of the implementation process, which was a matter for the public service that had commissioned the review.
The review found the agency had a culture of blame and fear, mistrust between executives and was told of instances of bullying and undermining decisions.
"The executive group are not seen by the workforce, or themselves, as a unified team. Trust between executives has been seriously eroded," the review said.
Mr Glenn told budget estimates it was unhelpful to conflate the findings of a 2017 agency staff survey and the findings from the executive leadership review.
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"Certainly, there is always work we can do across the organisation to be able to support our leaders and supporting our staff to provide the best service they can to the ACT community," Mr Glenn said.
The staff survey had also identified a culture of blame and a toxic relationship between frontline staff and management.
Mr Glenn said the funding required to implement the recommendations of the review was yet to be determined, but he expected costs to include coaching support for executive staff and facilitated discussions.
An independent chair for the implementation oversight committee would also likely be paid for their services and staff would be told who was on the committee, Mr Glenn said.
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Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
