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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 12 Hansard (19 November) . . Page.. 3712 ..

Mrs Carnell: It is fixed.

MR BERRY: She claims across the floor that it is fixed. It is not fixed. There is no director of mental health appointed under the legislation. Mr Speaker, this Minister refuses to enact the intent of the legislation and the legal requirements of the legislation which set out the requirement to appoint a director of mental health. She blamed the acting director for the actions of a single individual who drew attention to the problems in mental health. Mr Speaker, of course, this man was a scapegoat. This was an insult to the executive of Mental Health Services who wrote to Mrs Carnell protesting about the precipitate dismissal of the executive director and the release of confidential and inaccurate information on the day he was dismissed. Mrs Carnell had to backtrack. But she bungled.

Another bungle followed when Mrs Carnell tried to put in place a non-psychiatrist as the director of mental health. That failed because the person she had sought to entrap into that position stepped back out of it. He was not going to have anything to do with this conspiracy that was going on in relation to mental health. We were left with a situation at that time of no director of mental health, no acting director of mental health, and no executive director of mental health. Since then the Minister has made another announcement. This is another misleading and dishonest press release. It is headed "New Director of ACT Mental Health Service" - a lie. Whoever wrote that was setting out deliberately to mislead the community to the view that a person had been appointed as the director of mental health under the legislation. It was a deliberate attempt to mislead the community. Over and over again we hear these honeyed words and glitzy promises.

Mr Speaker, Mrs Carnell's interference in clinical issues in the mental health area has also been highlighted by a letter sent to her by a psychiatrist from the Canberra Hospital, pointing out that it was not her role or her office's role to interfere in the role of the mental health crisis team. Mrs Carnell's office interfered in the operation of the mental health crisis team and asked questions about individuals and for details about individuals in relation to their performance of clinical duties. That is not the role of a politician, Mr Speaker. Mrs Carnell should be sacked for that, too. The Minister's interference in clinical issues has led to the morale in Mental Health Services plummeting. Mrs Carnell's solution, of course, is to announce a grand plan, another glib, knee-jerk reaction which is, more than anything, a marking of time.

Mr Speaker, the Independents in this chamber have a job in front of them today. It is a serious job. It is one which requires the deepest consideration. I know that they are committed to this Government. This is not about the fall of the Government; it is about relieving the Territory of the problem Health Minister that we have been lumbered with. Health, mental health and all of those areas which Mrs Carnell manages in the area of health need a new Minister. They need one who does not have a conflict of interest. They need one with an interest in dealing with the health problems, not one who is concerned only with glitzy promises and honeyed words. Mr Speaker, this is a motion of no confidence that should be supported.

MR SPEAKER: The member's time has expired.

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