Page 3993 - Week 15 - Wednesday, 16 December 1992
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In the second case history he included in his letter to Wayne Berry, the last sentence says:
The Board of Health's policy of non-compliance with the law on HIV notification may well cost the man's wife her life.
I pause to note that the Chief Minister is reading a copy of Realtor. That is an interesting condemnation of the Chief Minister, who is not prepared to listen to the evidence that I present.
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Stevenson, I am loath to interrupt you, but I will now interrupt on two bases. First of all, because you have chosen to digress, I will ask you to refer to Mr Berry as Mr Berry, not Mr Wayne Bruce Berry, or Wayne Berry, and I will ask you to desist from commenting on what the Chief Minister is or is not doing. There will be a matter later that I will raise with you in terms of imputation of members' motives. Would you please continue your speech on that basis.
Mr Kaine: I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. There is at least a longstanding convention in this Assembly that members will not read newspapers and other like documents in this house. I think it is quite appropriate for Mr Stevenson to draw attention to the fact that the Chief Minister is reading such an irrelevant document.
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Kaine, it has not been a convention that has been tested since I have been in the chair, but I would be happy to continue it if that is indeed the case. Mr Stevenson, would you continue, please.
MR STEVENSON: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Presumably to make sure that the Health Minister was left with no uncertainty as to the facts of the situation, Dr Proudfoot ended his letter with these words:
Would you please answer the following questions:
(1) Do you have any doubt that the law on HIV notification in the ACT is as I have described it?
(2) If so, will you obtain a formal legal opinion on this subject from the Attorney-General?
(3) If you have no doubt that the law on HIV notification in the ACT is as I have described it, will you instruct the Board of Health to operate an HIV notification system which complies with that law?
I have already tabled the document entitled "Annexure B".
On 20 August 1991 Dr Proudfoot again wrote to Mr Berry and referred to an article in the Canberra Times of 18 August 1991. In this article a prostitute identified the problem of those people who are contacts of HIV infected persons not being notified of the danger, as would routinely occur with other notifiable diseases. In his letter Dr Proudfoot says to the Health Minister:
Since the Board of Health (contrary to legislation) declines to receive statutory notifications of HIV infection, the MOH never hears about HIV infections, and no official action is taken.
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