Premier Ewart Brown hit most of the right notes in his speech on his first 100 days in office on Monday night, defending some of his Government?s actions while making it clear where his administration would be putting its focus.

There is always a temptation in speeches such as this to roll out a laundry list of achievements, from the major to the banal, at the expense of an overarching philosophy.

Dr. Brown largely managed to avoid this, keeping a focus on the major issues, without any glaring omissions with the possible exception of the environment. And he did not shy away from most of the challenges facing his Government, admitting that there are problems in public education and defending his controversial move to close the indigent clinic at the hospital. What was clear is that his Government is going to focus heavily on social issues, including housing and education, and will also be tackling the family, whose deterioration in Bermuda is by far the hardest problem both to define and to fix.

He has also made it clear that he will focus on challenges facing young people, both those on the Island and the ?best and the brightest? abroad, who are concerned about what kind of a life they will be able to build if they return.

Bermuda?s most pressing issue is still affordable housing, and there does seem to be some progress there. It is fair to point out that much of the groundwork for this was put in place by former Premier Alex Scott after years of inaction, but Dr. Brown and Housing Minister Sen. David Burch continue to drive it forward and should take credit for it. It is, however, irritating when Government officials claim that renovated homes, such as those at Anchorage View, are ?new?.

Dr. Brown also backed the badly needed review of the education system, and this is welcome. It is vital that the leader of the Country takes a close interest in an issue that has serious long term ramifications. Dr. Brown was short on specifics, but did at least admit that education is about more than buildings, and that is a start.

He also addressed the continuing issue of crime, and has promised more news on this in the future. It has been noted elsewhere that Dr. Brown has a habit of stealing his Ministers? thunder on positive developments by dropping hints about them before they are formally announced, while he is often nowhere to be seen when there?s bad news. From the country?s perspective, there may be nothing wrong with that, but from the perspective of managing the Cabinet, it could be storing up future problems.

Dr. Brown also repeated his explanation of why he wants to close the Indigent Clinic. In the overall scope of things, this is a relatively minor issue, but it is beginning to take on gargantuan proportions, in part because the Premier ? as with the GPS issue and with the Southlands development ? can be astonishingly stubborn when he does not get his way on decisions on which he has set his heart.

That contrasts with his flexibility on other questions. Reading between the lines, Government appears to have backed off on an immediate redevelopment of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and will instead build the proposed satellite clinics first. And on telecommunications reform, he appeared to signal that Government is far from committed to the far-reaching liberalisation laid out in its own policy paper.

The knock on Dr. Brown when he was challenging Mr. Scott was that he was all style and no substance. It is probably fair to say that the groundwork for 75 percent of the accomplishments being trumpeted in the first 100 days were in place before he took office.

But part of any leader?s job is to drive change and to use the office as a bully pulpit for telling people where he wants to take the Country. Dr. Brown seems to be doing that.