Brian Head discusses the sacking, redeployment and kitchen leave of senior public servants at the start of the Borbidge Government. He notes that because he could not be sacked, he was re-deployed to the Department of Main Roads at a lower pay level in 1996. He discusses Borbidge's re-appointment of many Bjelke-Petersen era public servants, and the public discontent with these actions.

Brian Head discusses his work at the PSMC in the context of the public service's discontent with constant restructuring, and their disquiet with the failing Goss Government in late 1995. He comments that while the Goss Government was an excellent reformer, it was seen as less effective in day-to-day service delivery.

Ann Scott talks about her work with the Public Sector Management Commission and the major reforms in which she was involved, including the privatisation of correctional facilities, the changes to the police service in line with the findings of the Fitzgerald Inquiry, and the rise of equal opportunity initiatives across the public service.  She also reflects on the challenges posed to the reform agenda by the political cultures of individual departments.

Ann Scott briefly comments on the 1991 CJC report into the misuse of parliamentary travel funds and also discusses the long-lived popularity of the Goss Government (which she attributes to their reform agenda), and their eventual downfall (wrought by the alienation of the country electorates). She also notes the sometimes difficult relationship between the government and the public service that resulted from the large-scale reforms.

Ann Scott recalls her appointment as Principal Policy Officer in the Women's Policy Unit in 1990, her subsequent employment in the Public Sector Management Commission and the Social Policy Unit, and the impact of Goss and Rudd's reforms to the ministerial and public service. She highlights the highly interventionist nature of the reforms and the turbulence and difficulty of the time.