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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 14 Hansard (9 December) . . Page.. 4736 ..

MRS CARNELL: The reason that we went back to Mental Health is that Ms Reilly had asked a question in this place and had been singularly uncomplimentary about the service that was being offered. She mentioned the insert and I think she quoted the piece from the insert, suggesting that when the phone number that was in here was rung for further information the person on the other end did not know anything about it. I think Ms Reilly also asked, from memory, was it not true that nobody in Mental Health knew anything about the changes that had been put in place. As the Minister for Health, I was concerned about that. I thought, "Heavens, this is very unusual. As our employees in Mental Health have been part of the whole working up of the changes and so on, how could it be that there was somebody, or, as Ms Reilly said, there were lots of people, who did not understand the changes that were in place?".

So, what did we do, Mr Speaker? We went back to Mental Health and said, "What is the story here?". I did not monitor the phone calls, Mr Speaker. Mental Health then went and had a talk to all the people who had been on the phone that day. They log their calls, as you would expect them to do in somewhere like Mental Health. They went through the calls that they had received and came up with the one that it must have been because none of the others had asked for information. That occurred at lunchtime when an ASO2 was relieving on the phone. The anonymous person who rang the ASO2 relieving on the phone at lunchtime was told that the ASO2 was more than happy to get somebody to ring that person back with more information after lunch. That person then hung up and did not leave a name.

My understanding is that the ASO2 is very pleased that people stood up for that person in this Assembly. The person is a very dedicated member of staff and was very embarrassed that that particular situation had been brought up on the floor of the house. Mr Speaker, we do not monitor phone calls, but our people in Mental Health are very diligent and they care a lot about getting the right information out to the public. They were very concerned about the comment that was made. I am pleased now that that has been sorted out, because we have very dedicated staff.

MS REILLY: I have a supplementary question. Minister, you went through ways in which you checked back on the call. You said you knew who had made the call. How do you know it was a member of my staff who made the call?

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, in questions during this question time, those opposite have spoken a lot about perception. This is not about perception. My Mental Health people went through every call that had been logged that day. If somebody who does not want to give their name rings up and asks a question like, "Can you please tell me all of the changes that are going to happen in Mental Health over the next 12 months?", that is not a very common question to get. They ring up at lunchtime and then, when somebody suggests, "How about I get someone to ring you back when they get back from lunch?", they hang up without leaving a name. It does not take a genius to work out that this is a set-up, particularly when, in question time an hour or two later, Ms Reilly says, "We rang, or somebody rang this number, and they did not know anything about it". I have to ask, "Who is stupid around here?". It is not someone on this side of the house.

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