[Peetwo]

Finally Beaker leaves Estimates - Hoorah!

Beaker's last Estimates - All 4 minutes & 18 seconds of it - HOORAH! Don't let the door hit you on your stuffed rump Beaker...

 

Exeunt Beaker – Halle ducking lujah.

Watch the Heff expression in the first few seconds; priceless.  Then he just ignores the Beaker babble as Sterlo ambles off to the tea trolley, equally disinterested.  Just about sums up the general attitude toward anything Beaker has to say.  

The big question of course is how will Hoody clean up the mess left behind?  It will be a big job for him and it will be the first time he has actually ran a department, let alone a crucial one.  Much of the old guard will still be there, Walsh and Sangston for example; they clearly supported the Beyond all Reason philosophy and the troops will take some time to ‘readjust’ to doing things ‘properly’.  It will be interesting to watch; Hoody knows where the skeletons are buried – in both the ASA and CASA backyards, there may even be a patch or two of payback, if he chose to play that card.  

The question for the IOS/BRB is how much latitude can we afford Hood?  On one hand he has first class knowledge and experience of how things work and should, in theory, be able to hit the ground running. On the other hand, there is the eternal game of dodging the bullets.  To his advantage are the number of sacrificial lambs he has available, there are enough stuff ups on the books to support wholesale slaughter.  

Well, it’s a good riddance to finally be shut of Beaker, that’s for certain sure.  Let’s all hope Hoody can retrieve some credibility and honour for the ATSB.  It would be a fine thing to pick up a report into an accident or incident and say “Well done” ATSB.  It would be a good thing to listen to Estimates and not have to hit my well worn Bollocks key; gods know it needs a break.

Aye well, the best of luck to Hoody; mind you, the tea lady would have outshone Beaker, so there is a chance there that Hoody will shine and breath a little life into the moribund ATSB. Congratulations Greg Hood, your time starts now. Tick tock.  

Toot toot.

From Hansard Beaker on MH370:

Senator XENOPHON: Finally, in respect of MH370, I note that the budget said there would be no further funds; is that right?


Mr Dolan : That is the position. There are no further appropriations. To summarise: the estimated total cost of covering the entire search area was in the order of $180 million, of which $80 million was—

Mr Foley : $100 million from Malaysia.

Mr Dolan : Yes; sorry, I was going with from Australia first, Mr Foley—of which up to $100 million is contributed by Malaysia and the Chinese have given us $20 million in kind and in cash and the rest—$60 million—is from the Australian government.

Senator XENOPHON: Will anyone else be taking up the search or is there basically an acceptance that there will be no attempt to find MH370?

Mr Dolan : The position of the three governments was: if we completed the search of the defined 120,000 square kilometres without success then the search would then be concluded.

CHAIR: ATSB can go home?

Mr Mrdak : Mr Dolan will be finishing his role as the ATSB's Chief Commissioner in June. I would like to place on record certainly my personal appreciation of his work over the last few years and wish him and his family the best for his retirement.

CHAIR: What do you mean 'retirement'?

Mr Mrdak : For the next phase of his life, shall we put it that way?

CHAIR: That is better. Get out of here while the going is good. Congratulations.

Old Murky Mandarin didn't say that with much conviction, although all things considered he did do a stellar job in obfuscating & covering up several potentially embarrassing incidents for the Ministers (of both colours) & the Department in his nearly 8 years of abacus counting & discrediting of the ATSB - UDB


MTF...P2