Ruth Matchett discusses acceptance of her as Director General, as the department had had a number of female ministers and it had been branded as a women's area. She discusses instances of sexual discrimation in her career, such as when she was regional director of the Department of Children's Services in Rockhampton, and she had not been entitled to the housing provided for that position, which instead went to her assistant – a married man with children, which effectively put his salary package higher than hers.
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.
