 Afternoon ladies and gentlemen. You can do it Jack, come with you mate. For the 20 feelers. Oh that's real good, thank you for your great support. What side are you on? I want it to succeed. Testing one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Anyone right to go? Well ladies and gentlemen thanks for coming. Sorry to keep you waiting for a few minutes. It is great to be here today with police minister Jack Dempsey and the commissioners of the fire service, Lee Johnson and Ian Stewart, the commissioner of the Queensland Police Service to essentially release and respond to issues surrounding the guilty review of police and emergency services in Queensland. Ladies and gentlemen, the government has commissioned a number of reviews in various parts of government. We had engaged a former federal police commissioner, Mick Kilty to undertake a review of police and emergency services areas and that review commenced back in January this year. Mr Kilty has provided his final report to Cabinet which was considered yesterday and Cabinet has formally adopted the report and is now providing it for the people of Queensland to see. We intend to respond by implementing as much as possible the recommendations that Mr Kilty has come up with. I say that up front today. There will be some variations of course but we intend to be absolutely scrupulous to the spirit of what he's saying and we intend to make sure that we get positive change in police and emergency services matters in Queensland. I want to thank Mick Kilty and his team for undertaking this important work for the people of Queensland. It's a very important work and I know a lot of effort has gone into it and we think it's a very solid report. Ladies and gentlemen, in terms of what we're trying to achieve, it's this. We want the best public service in the nation. Well, as part of that we want the best police service, we want the best fire service, we want the best emergency service for Queenslanders and of course we want to do the best for people in our health system. That's the objective. The objective is not about sort of changing the head count, the objective is not about saving money, it's about doing better. And what Mr Kilty has identified is a number of important structural reforms in terms of organisation but also internal process reforms and managerial and administrative reforms that will actually give us a better service for Queenslanders. That's what the objective is all about. Some of the key things that will see organisational change are as follows. Firstly, the transfer of the Queensland Ambulance Service out of the current department into Queensland Health. 85% of their work of course is with Queensland Health. The transfer of the Queensland Corrective Services Area, the jails to the Department of Justice and the Attorney General. The abolition of the Department of Community Safety and Emergency Management Queensland and creation of a new Department of Fire and Emergency Services which will have the urban and rural fire service within it. And the creation of two new roles, a CEO portfolio business which is essentially a shared services between the fire service and the police service dealing with things like IT, HR IR issues, communications etc. will be providing support to both those organisations. And finally, an Inspector General of Emergency Management to actually constantly challenge the new organisation to make sure that it is best positioned to look after Queenslanders in the case of natural disasters. The report has cost $590,000. It's money well spent in terms of the outcomes we expect going forward. There are 129 recommendations and 341 pages. But I stress again, this is a blueprint to deliver a better service for Queenslanders across those important areas. And I'll now ask the Minister to comment. Thank you Premier. This is a once in a generational change for the police and fire and emergency services across Queensland. This breaks down the silos of the departments and meets community expectations to have the best police, fire and emergency services, not just in Australia but in all of the world. We already have a magnificent reputation, but this is taking it into the next 20, 30 years ahead. When we first commissioned Mr Kilty, and I'd just like to thank him for a magnificent report, a report that is boots and all in relation to identifying issues right across the whole of the portfolio and his team of Ian and Alison who did a magnificent job over the last couple of months. But particularly the emphasis on a portfolio that will now have emergency service workers, a commissioner for police and a commissioner for fire and emergency services, leading the operational responsibilities to meet the community expectations in relation to Queensland, not just being a great state with great opportunities but a great state that is safe and has a safety of its community and its streets and as well as its response to disasters and emergencies at its core heart to ensure that we are the best of the best. Mr Kilty obviously looked at areas from structure to coordination, cooperation, obviously the connectivity between the departments to make sure that we have the proper decision makers in place. We've seen these changes as the Premier just alluded to from Queensland Ambulance, which will now, sorry, Queensland Ambulance Service, which will now go over to Queensland Health having its own identity as such, the same as it is previously under the Department of Community Safety. It will now instead of having that Director-General, it will be under Director-General of Queensland Health and it will still remain with its own commissioner in that particular field. Correctional services now going under the Attorney-General's injustice. When it comes to corrections, we're the only state that corrections is actually under emergency services. So it's a correct fit to go under justice in most states it's either under justice or separate. Obviously with EMQ Emergency Management, Queensland will now be modified into the department of Queensland Fire and Emergency Services to make sure that we have a front-line response that sends a clear message that the departments are working together. Recently you would have just seen last week we made nearly a half, this government made nearly a half a billion dollars commitment to the government wireless network for the first time allowing police, ambulance and fire services to actually be able to talk to each other. This is the 21st century and this government's getting on making sure that we have the technological advancements to take these services into the future. And what we've also seen is a portfolio of business which will have its own CEO which will directly be able to look after the business sector to allow the two commissioners, that paramilitary style section to get on with protecting all Queenslanders. I must also say that the implementation with the steering committee will take a number of months. We want to make sure we do it step by step to get it right and we want to make sure that we get through the storm and disaster period and any concerns in that regard and have the rest of the full implementation by mid next year. But you'll see Queensland Ambulance move over by the end of October. You'll see corrections to justice by the end of this year and you'll see the steering committee step through the different recommendations all 129 of those recommendations to ensure that they are implemented as best as possible. Over to you. Are you concerned about the lack of cooperation that the new team mentioned in the report with QPS? Well, I am and that's why we're committing to make the necessary changes. Did you expect there to be such a stretch to recommend that and there seems to be such a large number of issues in the report? Well, I did. Mick Kilty is someone who has enormous experience in this area and I knew that he would get right into the nitty-gritty as well as the broad, strategic sort of issues. It's important that we do. And look, he's pulled no punches in the report. Pulled no punches whatsoever. But that's really important if you to get the best result and fix things up. So we draw a line in the sand today and we say that was what happened previously. Well, it was yesterday. Today there's a going forward. There's going to be a very positive change that will address the concerns he's had. How much is it going to cost to shift all those departments around? We don't believe there's going to be a significant cost. Most of these changes are just about saying to people, well, you worked over there, now you're working over here and you must that you might answer to in terms of shared services. And I stress the objective. You're going to ask me about headcount. Look, I'll say right now, this is not about downsizing. There is no objective there whatsoever. This is about putting people in the right places so they answer in the right way and deliver the right services. So it really doesn't come at cost. Having said that, in terms of the budgets for things like the police service and the fire service, they are getting more money, more funding. There's more police on the beat. There's this new digital radio network which we're providing. So we are resourcing up those people who protect Queenslanders. Do you expect any senior level personnel changes as a result of the report? Oh, there will be senior level changes. Not with these two gentlemen who we have the utmost confidence in. I hasten to add. But we have to go and select someone for a number of these new positions. And the current people who are there are obviously in the first line candidates to get some of those positions. But particular positions obviously are the CEO of the portfolio business, the shared services area. So we're going to have to select someone to do that to provide services to these two organisations jointly. We also, I think, should comment on the very important role answering to Commissioner Lee Johnson, which is the person who's heading up the rule of fire service and those emergency volunteers. We need the right person doing that job as well. Does the government have the money to make the technological changes before the report is recognized? We believe we do. And again, the record shows that we are resourcing up the QFRS, the QPS and the ambulance service. Contrary to what you've heard from unions, there's been more money, more resources, just again on police. And there's 360 more police on the beat than there were 18 months ago. There's a police helicopter that's already there. There's another police helicopter coming. There's a half a billion dollar commitment to secure digital radio technology over the next 15 years that's starting to roll out right now. I mean, those are important initiatives and the recommendation on iPads and portable devices, we take that very seriously and we're going to make that happen. We'll give it a get you. But also what will happen is the steering committees will work through each item to get the best because you've got to imagine now is we're going to have a CEO portfolio business. For no longer will you have departments working in silos, doing their own IT, doing their own different business plans, they'll be brought together to be able to have connectivity right across the whole of the department. I asked that question there before. This report in no way is sugar coated. You've seen other reports and reviews over periods of times, giving the same recommendations but other governments have just let it go into la la land. I really commend Mick Kilty and his team for having the courage and the tenacity to be able to look at the overall portfolio aspects in relation to police and emergency services. This will give us the best outcome going forward and it will get us to the best connectivity in relation to ICT. Even today as a first start it's the first time a report has been presented to parliament that has come through the internet. If you haven't got a hard copy report and this is the way of the future and this is the way that we have to embrace technology right across the department. Will they work in the original area? Look, certainly will. I think for me as an officer of previously in the police for 20 years I'd experience on the ground whether it be from police or fire and emergency services we're certainly problem solvers. The only difference now is you've got a government that understands the needs of your technology on the ground to make sure that our front line services get the best output being able to have additions of corporate services and I think it is kind of activity at roadside if you have life hats on the roadside those sort of things. That's a fair question but last time I checked there's very comprehensive coverage these days in terms of 3G, 4G networks I mean police and emergency people are in the main working where the community are really telecommunications companies have provided coverage. With the government wireless network we're very conscious about the need to provide great coverage and particularly we can provide you details about how there's going to be very good coverage in the areas that have been selected such as the greater Brisbane area and South East Queensland, Cairns etc there will be very good coverage indeed better coverage than the current analogue system that's being used and I'll just use that as an example. Of the police, things like the lack of engagement by the QPS the lack of connectivity by the QPS they're not team players they don't acknowledge themselves as part of the public service what do you think about that? Well Mr. Kildey's made that call and he has put that on the table I guess that's something that we're all going to have to take on board and we will and we will I just want to reiterate though I have every confidence in the commissioner and I just say I know Queenslanders have every confidence in the man that help them through some very dark days over the last two and a half years cyclones and floods and the like they know that Ian Stewart is a commissioner is the bloke who actually got them through those sorts of things helping the former government so really, you know Kildey's made the comment that I'm sure the commissioner will address it and we need to deal with these things and move on Can we ask also what Mr. Kildey has said in here that while salaries and wages paid for doing core business might have dropped along with the demand it hasn't happened allowances have gone up but the base salary have dropped He basically just says in here that allowances for firefighters have gone up but the base salary has not and he seems to be hinting to the fact that they might be overpaid given that demand for some of their services has dropped Well I'll say this service people do a terrific job they put their life on the line as the police do they deal with obviously very dangerous fire situations chemical spills and the like they're cutting people out of cars they do the swift water rescue I think they deserve every penny they get and again this isn't about going after paying conditions it's about actually a restructure and a realignment of how these things work there is another matter that I probably should address which I think probably is a more relevant one that you might want to raise and that's the issue of the overtime the police were getting sitting minding speed cameras and my position is this it is ultimately not good use of highly qualified, highly trained police officers sitting their minding cameras and it was a financially rewarding thing for people to do but to have someone sitting minding a camera wasn't good use of their skills and expertise when they should have been out fighting crime and I acknowledge that they were receiving overtime but I'll say something else, it's my view that they're well paid, they are well paid their pay bears up very well compared to police in other states and I hope to see people doing large amounts of overtime when they arguably should be there with their families and friends enjoying their well earned rest now there are other opportunities for overtime specials for example are well sought after for all sorts of community organisations events and I know that there are those opportunities but relying on overtime from minding police cameras really ultimately isn't something that anyone really should support just to a lot of this sort of is behind the scenes like restructuring and shuttling the moms and dads that are at home bring up a lot of police car there when they want it, what does this mean for them No, thank you for the question and certainly the report comments on the great work that our people do every day right across emergency services not just the police but right across all emergency services and I'm very grateful for that the report has raised a range of issues and certainly has been critical of some of the aspects during the compilation of this report but I would remind everyone that at the time the review was taking place we were already starting our journey of change within the Queensland Police Service we were undergoing probably the most significant change in the last 25 years in terms of our restructure and we welcome the guilty report in fact I think it actually affirms many of the things that we've been looking at and asking for for a number of years and I'm very proud to say that we now have a government that allows that open debate and certainly we will be going to government asking for their support for implementation of many of those recommendations Will this give you a policeman when you bring up a new policeman at 2 o'clock in the morning? Absolutely they may be getting the same service as they did yesterday but over time that service will improve I think everyone knows my vision is to focus on frontline policing to give our frontline police the resources they need and in fact the minister only recently announced the move to mobility the trial that we'll start to roll out next month and in fact if some of these things were easy every police department in Australia would have them and certainly in the area of mobility we'll be one of the first to have smartphone technology tablet technology that actually allows connectivity with our primary computer systems we'll be right at the forefront of that and I thank the government again for their support in this regard The report refers to the blue iron curtain between the police and other aspects of government is that a cultural issue that needs to be addressed? I'll take the issue on board but the review that we did and the restructure we undertook over the first 6 months of this year was internal to the Queensland Police Service it was about that journey of change that needs to occur in any large organisation that's basically been stable for a long period of time This review, the review undertaken by the police and emergency services review team talks across the portfolio and that's the difference we now will work very very closely with our other sister and brother agencies to get that connectivity to get that greater interoperability and in fact integration that's necessary to allow the effectiveness and efficiencies to occur particularly in that corporate area while our front lines are given the resources that they need to do their job right across all of the portfolio areas How many civilians would you give if they got a non-front-line job like cameras? How many civilians would you give a non-front-line job? Sorry Just with the camp that remains to be seen that's why there's this information committee led by my director general John Grayson with the commissioners on it Brigadier Greg Bilton from the Australian Defence Force but in terms of like cameras we've made no secret of this we will be calling for tenders for the private sector to provide that service and it will be done through the Department of Transport Premier, you love the concern of some experienced officers who may look elsewhere in terms of the job if they don't have that extra income of operating the cameras and providing escorts because a lot of them use that as a way to I know you said that could they look elsewhere but I certainly hope they don't and again I just think what we're doing has been done in other states there are other states where the cameras are operated by the private sector under the supervision of either the police or the transport departments and we're just moving to that again I just can't reiterate enough it's just not appropriate having highly qualified police officers sitting there babysitting a camera it's just not good use of their time before we go there shall we finish any of the final questions on this? that's a really good question and I'm sure there'll be some who will probably express an opinion otherwise but I'll say this that Mr Kilty did consult quite extensively with the senior people at the QAS he also sought to engage with the unions as well and I believe he did and I don't think there'll be any surprises there that this has been implemented in this way it has by the way been the subject of previous recommendations I think the big concern for the ambulance service has probably had been dealt with if we go back 18 months ago and we took office ambulances were out there in queues, in-drives outside our major hospitals as you will have heard me say before we now have all but ended ramping we now have the best performing emergency departments in the nation and that means that there should be some confidence in QAS that they as a team with Queensland Health will work much better together in this way and I stress what the minister said QAS is going in as a separate standalone unit or department within health it's just moving across we'll be then answering through to the minister to Lawrence Springboard so they're all going across they're going across as an entity for the line ambulance officer they should see a difference whatsoever but we'll get better coordination and working between ambulance service and hospitals down the track their pay arrangements are integral to them as well so they'll have their own so they'll be a separate unit within health and so I think they can be very confident they're not going to have those sorts of problems I'm glad you raised that they'll be well forgiven for worrying about that but they go as an entity with their own structure no changes there can I just say as well is just to reiterate Russell Bowles the commissioner of Queensland Ambulance Service is a remarkable commissioner in the regions within a matter of weeks and aligned with Queensland Health Boards the pathway for Queensland Ambulance obviously as the commissioner alluded to 85% of their work is linked to Queensland Health but also their training the educational pathways are predominantly linked more to Queensland Health than in the other department and this is an exciting time I've spoken to the unions as well about these particular areas and they see it as a way of highlighting the relation to advanced paramedics and the way that they go about their work no longer is it a transportation taking people from A to B it is that care, that professionalism that they get within the ambulances I just wanted to... So if only some of the best person people to do live against their experience it's dangerous work I don't know if the commissioner want to comment on that one you No thank you for that question look at the end of the day safety the key issue the safety of the motoring public the safety of the community nothing will be done without making that the primary consideration in any submission that's made to the government about wide load escorts out there certainly this is not an issue that can be handled lightly and we know that but we currently have a range of escorts happening across the state the capacity of the police department to actually fulfill the needs of all of that is stretched and certainly we need to look at different ways of actually providing that service to to the community look I think I said before that the context of the review at the timing of the review was at a time of significant stress on our organisation just doing the restructure certainly I believe provided all of the information we were asked to now it might have happened immediately but that information came forward and I notice in the report it actually says we actually gave them more data than they actually needed and certainly that was the case we arranged forums for them to come and meet with officers to discuss issues of importance and I would suggest that the report in its current form wouldn't have been possible without the transparency and the ideas coming forward from the police department so it's a criticism that there was a disregard for the review team development there look there will always be perceptions about this and I think the community has the right to judge those sorts of issues what I'm saying very clearly is that when we were asked to provide information we certainly did our best to provide that in a timely manner and I had a person full-time working with that team for a number of months so that they could facilitate that there were a whole range of information that was provided to the team I'm happy though if there is evidence that there was specifics around people not doing their job not providing that I'm happy to take that forward from the very first day that the review started my senior management team and I'm talking about the entire senior executive of the Queensland Police Service we're told directly by me this is going to help us we need to be very open and transparent with anything that the review team needed it does say that the restructuring report which was released in January this year wasn't given to looking people for six months that's not just the next day no absolutely no I know what you're talking about there is a draft report that was completed as an after after project report that was developed by our project team that we're doing our restructuring now whilst the restructuring didn't take place until July certainly they had documented all of the issues that needed to go forward but the components of that report that were asked for by the Kilty Review they were provided in fact I think we provided even more data as I said than perhaps what even the review team needed and I think it's important that we remember that having rigorous debate about these issues is a very important component of that certainly we had that opportunity and I think what you also have to do is take that into the context of the whole of the reconstruction of the overall portfolio the fact that we had the Malone report during that time we had Oswald happening as well and I just really want to obviously emanate the thanks of Mick Kilty of providing this report to take us forward Will there still be a commission on correct services? Yes Commissioner Johnson Commissioner Stewart in terms of this report is this going to improve the service delivery or are we going to get a fire engine out of the front of our place or something quicker then? Thanks the service response times for fire and rescue are very very good and we compare nationally at the highest level what this report has done has given us a wonderful opportunity to further grow our capability and our support to the community so I'm very very confident that firefighters whether they be paid staff or our volunteers are going to respond to this very well I can only see bigger and better things and one thing I know after more than 30 years if you don't continuously improve and learn you stagnate and that's the last thing the people of Queensland need Will this open the door for more equipment for you for example or more water? Yes as part of the review we'll obviously work and the commissioner Stewart and I are on the steering committee and part of our role will be to go through the recommendations and develop where appropriate business cases for both of us to benefit and particularly in the ICT area but as we've heard earlier the government also has made an outstanding investment in the government wireless network and I've personally been associated with bidding for that I suppose over a couple of years and it's just been such a great thing that will revolutionise radio communications into the digital age for all of the services so you can't ask for a better starter than that Can you acknowledge what you said it's not about downsizing but will everyone who currently has a job just be moved over that's the idea I'll say this there are always people coming and going I'm not going to make a guarantee today that there won't be a person working today that isn't in three or four months time I can't make that guarantee but I'm saying to you this government's been really up front about job losses we went in the last year we made tough decisions, the police service and all departments had to do a range of things in terms of shedding people but that was done last year the objective here is to actually change the structure sort out roles, get the co-operation it is not about shedding jobs at all I can assure people that that is not the objective So just to reiterate just to add to that is you'll have the movement of the corporate side and everything else from ambulance over to their area and from corrections over to justice as well so there'll be people moving in those particular areas and then what we'll be doing is bringing together that's our business corporate portfolio Sorry We saw an interim report I can't recall exactly now but we saw an interim report and had a briefing from Mr Kilty it was then the case that the report was finalised and given to us for consideration on Monday Not really there was some debate about some of the final organisation or the final organisation debate about some of the final organisational niceties in terms of how things work within the new shared services area but that's about it I can assure you that there's really been no the end of the day it's his report as you've heard he's pulled no punches he's made plenty of critical comments that we need to respond to You talked about old technology like fax machines still being introduced Have you seen any of that in London Mr Dempsey? They're all faxes Look there is we saw obviously with Oswald there across the state we had to go back to a lot of old technologies but now with the future in relation to ICT it is going to be a marvellous opportunity not just emergency departments but hopefully for local governments in the future to have an integrated response to disasters right across the full scope of Queensland whatever mother nature throws at us we will have the best in the world opportunities to get the best outcome for Queenslanders and all the other opportunities with the steering committee will come together and work through them one at a time to make sure we get the best in the world He believes his report speaks for itself he says there it is he's busy actually doing other work for the government right now and the public sector commission and the like I want to wind this up because I'm conscious you've got things to do and I have too You're wagering to lose 20 kilos I'm glad you raised that because I was going to raise that too Busterburg is actually the obesity capital of the nation Are you setting an example? I believe in setting goals whether they be work goals or private goals whether they be work towards achieving that goal it's something that will obviously not just be a benefit to me but to my family and my five children I encourage other members of the community not just Bunderburg right around Queensland to get on board and step up but do it in a healthy, safe way He's got a year to do it mind you he has shifted on his position last week it was only 10 kilos today I don't know what happened but he suddenly said it was 20 so we'll take that we're going to have the stewards come in and supervise that finding a correct way And you're suddenly a son of a wager It's just you two The wager involves a certain bottle of product brewed in Bunderburg So Cross River Road shall we dealt with the report? The report raises primary privacy concerns in regards to the use of personal devices by police for monitoring and storing information So in regards to the new devices that are coming in that should eliminate that but what will be done to ensure the security of that information is already gathered in the hands of the public? Existing material informal databases No thank you for that question and it's certainly something that's in the report and quite properly so we're certainly looking at the legal aspects of that we've involved the Privacy Commissioner in a range of our decisions in recent times and we're will need to do that again in relation to this particular issue Can I just make the comment about that though just to be very clear I mean people do things like that when the organisation they're working for is not providing the equipment the tools to do the job so I don't feel that we should criticise police you know endeavour to collect data and use those means informal if you like unofficial means to do that they've been trying to actually have a system to do their job because overall we have let them down as a community by not funding them enough perhaps or not providing the tools to do the job so yes we need to deal with that but I think it's important to recognise why that situation developed so should we go to any other issues of the day Can we talk about the federal election