Page 4818 - Week 16 - Thursday, 29 November 1990
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I reject, as I rejected yesterday, the assertion that any officials of my department have been involved in any activities which could be described as heavying or pressuring or attempting to silence criticism. I have an account of the events that the doctor concerned raised in his letter. I understand that the meeting that the letter referred to took place on 8 November between a small group of senior officials from the Board of Health and some editorial staff from the Canberra Times. The meeting was a follow-on to a meeting held on 31 October which had been convened by the Board of Health officers in order to provide information on the hospital redevelopment program and other matters of topical interest to the Canberra Times.
Regular briefings of that kind are, of course, a normal part of government, and undoubtedly occurred when Mr Berry was Minister. At the meeting on 31 October the Board of Health representatives were asked for information about doctors who were publicly expressing their opposition to the Government's decision to transfer services from Royal Canberra Hospital North to Royal Canberra Hospital South and Calvary Hospital. The identity of those doctors was not in any way unknown, since their opinions had been expressed publicly on more than one occasion. Indeed, their names have been published in the Canberra Times on a number of occasions, as the authors of letters and articles expressing their views.
No attempt was made to discredit those doctors either individually or as a group, although it was stated that their views were not generally representative of the majority of the medical profession in Canberra. I have to say that in my view that is clearly a valid point of view to express.
I have recently received a letter from the salaried specialist that Mr Berry referred to yesterday. It refers to the issues that he raised, and I intend to respond to it along these lines in the next few days. I reject, however, the assertion - as I rejected it yesterday - that anything improper occurred in that context. It is, of course, entirely appropriate for the staff of the hospital to be briefing the Canberra Times and other media journalists on the events or the issues surrounding the hospital redevelopment project, and I believe in the circumstances that that has been done on all occasions with complete propriety.
MR BERRY: I have a supplementary question, Mr Speaker. Minister, when will you accept that cautioning senior nurses because of their opposition to - - -
MR SPEAKER: Order! I do not believe that that is supplementary, Mr Berry.
MR BERRY: With respect, you have not heard it yet, Mr Speaker.
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