George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, Senator McGrath, I can. The overwhelming lesson to be learned from the findings of the royal commission is that bad policy and bad process have consequences—in this case, tragically, lethal consequences. What occurred need not have occurred, should not have occurred and, but for bad policy and bad process, would not have occurred. The report makes several recommendations in order to avoid such serious failings ever happening again. In particular, it recommended that, before charging an agency with the implementation of large or complex programs, some assessment should be made of the agency's capacity to deliver it. It recommended that the Australian government should use the experience of the HIP as a means to learn from the many mistakes identified in the report—many of which could be traced to overconfidence. (Time expired)