Speedy CFA appointment of replacement chief raises questions
THE swiftness of the appointment of a new CFA chief executive to replace Lucinda Nolan has created concerns, writes James Campbell.
James Campbell
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LAST Tuesday Daniel Andrews was interviewed by the ABC’s Jon Faine about the future of Lucinda Nolan, chief executive of the CFA.
The previous Friday, the new Emergency Services Minister, James Merlino, had announced he was sacking the CFA board. Faine wanted to know if the Premier had confidence in Nolan.
He pointedly refused to do so.
But instead of doing the upright and manly thing by saying he wanted her gone, Dan — as is his way — pretended the whole thing had nothing to do with him.
“She’s the CEO and the CEO, if you like, the process to choose the CEO, issues of the performance of the CEO are a matter for the board,” he said.
Not only had it nothing to do with him, it wouldn’t be right for him to comment on it.
“The board is who appoints the CEO of the CFA and the board ought to be given a free run to be able to determine whether they have confidence in each and every member of the team down there.
“I’m not going to try and impose myself on that, that’s not appropriate.”
Fast forward to 1pm last Friday and the announcement by Merlino of five of the nine new members of the CFA board — the other four, to be appointed later, will come from the ranks of the volunteer firefighters.
Two hours later Nolan resigned.
Then, at 7pm, CFA chair Greg Smith announced the new board had appointed health bureaucrat Frances Diver as Nolan’s replacement as chief executive.
Not interim or acting chief executive, but chief executive.
Really? This board, which had only been in place six hours, was able to select and interview a new chief executive within three hours of the exit of the old one?
We have to believe so because the alternative — that the Government had lined up the new chief before the board took over — would mean Daniel Andrews was lying when he said “the process to choose the CEO, issues of the performance of the CEO are a matter for the board”. And if the Premier of Victoria can lie about this, it makes you wonder what else he’s been lying about.
What does it say about his colleagues and the rest of us if we let him get away with it?
On a number of occasions in the past month I’ve had public servants and Labor people — including MPs — say out of the blue that they are shocked at the way government is being carried on this state. “Even Kennett wouldn’t have carried on the way this lot are behaving,” was how one veteran public servant put it, while a Labor veteran said to me this week “this is a government cabal out of control” They remind him of Joh Bjelke-Petersen.
James Campbell is a Sunday Herald Sun columnist
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