Mike Ahern discusses the affects of the Fitzgerald Inquiry on his term as premier and his famous promise to implement the recommendations from the inquiry 'lock, stock and barrel'. He speaks about his professional life after politics.
Ross Rolfe comments on the agenda of the incoming Queensland Goss Government including objectives around implementing recommendations of the Fitzgerald Inquiry and electoral reform, Environment Minister Pat Comben's (1989-92) agenda of national park expansion, Head of Cabinet Office Kevin Rudd's agenda on languages in schools, general interest in public sector reform.
Ruth Matchett reflects on the Goss Government, and its failure to communicate its direction effectively, compounded by not allowing senior public servants to talk directly with the media. She discusses the role of ministerial advisers.
Ruth Matchett describes how her experience with Aboriginal and Islander affairs came from contact with the Indigenous community through the children's court and domestic violence. She discusses the approach made to her to act in the position of Director General under the Goss Government leading to her becoming the first woman director general in Queensland.
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.
