David Hamill comments on the mobility of the SES across departments as part of the public sector reform and the advice that the Premier received regarding this type of reform.
Peter Beattie talks about the shadow cabinet's preparation for office while in opposition, and their development of a suite of new reform policies gathered together under the agenda-setting concept of the Smart State.
Rob Borbidge discusses the alleged 'hit list' of public servants and compares the Goss Government's approach to reconfiguring the public service after a change of government to his own approach.
Ross Rolfe describes the relationship between government and vice chancellors under the Beattie era, including John Hay at UQ, and Dennis Gibson at QUT, Glyn Davis's links between government and Griffith University, and the role of Ken Fletcher and billionaire philanthropist Chuck Feeney.
Brian Head recalls his arrival in Brisbane in 1982, and the concern with the apparently unassailable Bjelke-Petersen regime. He briefly discusses the eventual downfall of the Bjelke-Petersen Government, and the election of the Goss Government on a reform platform. He discusses his position as the first head of policy in the Premier's Department in 1990, and discusses the selection process in the context of the post Bjelke-Petersen merit-based appointment system. He also mentions the gulag to which many senior Bjelke-Petersen public servants were sent by the Goss Government.
