“The Community Services Directorate’s handling of purchasing is a flabbergasting example of astonishing incompetence. It is an abject failure in protection of the community interest by the directorate. And these failures occurred under the ministerial stewardship of Rachel Stephen-Smith,” writes political columnist MICHAEL MOORE. 

ELECTIONS are the time when ordinary citizens can hold governments to account. It is certainly time to hold the longstanding, complacent ACT Labor government to account. 

But look at the alternative! Would it be any better? How many people are saying: “I know it is time for a change of government – but I just can’t bring myself to vote conservative”.

The exposé by Danielle Nohra in “CityNews” (“Directorate keeps millions from open tender”, September 17) on the failures of the Community Services Directorate identified the sorts of problems with a long-serving government where not one minister has ever served in opposition. 

The description of the purchasing of some $190 million in services without open tender was described as “chaotic”, “confused”, “lazy”, “incompetent” and just “administrative convenience”.

The minister at this time was Rachel Stephen-Smith. Considering the evidence, does she really deserve to be re-elected. If enough Labor voters leave the box next to her name without a tick – it is possible that one of her colleagues will be elected instead. The beauty of Hare-Clark is that incumbent candidates can be punished in this manner.

The Community Services Directorate’s handling of purchasing is a flabbergasting example of astonishing incompetence. It is an abject failure in protection of the community interest by the directorate. And these failures occurred under the ministerial stewardship of Rachel Stephen-Smith.

However, although this example is in the public eye thanks to Danielle Nohra and “CityNews”, it may well not be the only example of such poor processes to be found in the ACT government. It begs the question about how many other directorates will be exposed with a similar examination.

Incompetence, laziness and chaotic administration are bad enough. When this slackness is combined with bloody-mindedness, there is really a problem. Ironically, at the same time as allowing such incompetence, the same minister was responsible for forcing the $80,000 Foodbank program in the ACT to go to tender.

There was a blanket refusal to renew this funding to maintain the program despite this being the approach under previous minister Katy Gallagher. 

Instead, the Rotary Club of Canberra was told that it was government policy to go to open tender no matter the amount and the community contribution. Despite a series of meetings and extended advocacy efforts – the Directorate under Rachel Stephen-Smith – chose the path of confrontation. And all this at a time when huge purchases were by-passing the tender process.

As was explained to the minister at the time, the Foodbank service moved about 10 tonnes of food into Canberra each week. Over the previous five years alone the Rotary Foodbank program delivered close enough to four million meals comprising two million kilograms of fresh, frozen and packaged food. 

Rotary was the co-ordinator on a voluntary basis. Roadmaster provided transport at a huge discount, charities distributed the food. For all of this, the ACT government paid less than $100,000 for the transport – a third of the commercial cost.

Rachel Stephen-Smith, along with her advisers and her bureaucrats, were told that, as a service club, the Rotary Club of Canberra would not participate in a tender process. “When value is ignored in counting the costs” was the subject of my column at the time.

The issue was value for money, the long-term community contribution of members of the Rotary Club of Canberra and the risk to those in hunger. To its shame, the ACT government remained stubborn in its decision to put Foodbank to tender. In the end the Rotary Club of Canberra worked with the successful tenderer to ensure, as far as possible, that people will not go unnecessarily hungry. However, the cost to the ACT increased.

It made me angry to read that this purchasing fiasco paralleled an almost unfettered approach to avoiding the tender process. 

On the one hand, I recently recognised how well Rachel Stephen-Smith handled the media for the COVID-19 epidemic. 

However, on the other, the performance of the Health Directorate and the Canberra public hospital system under her watch certainly raises questions about her oversight of the directorates for which she has had responsibility.

The challenge for ACT voters is to determine if they think either a different Labor candidate, or a Liberal one, would do better as a minister.

Michael Moore is a former member of the ACT Legislative Assembly and an independent minister for health. He has been a political columnist with “CityNews” since 2006. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Canberra.