Page 4845 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 11 November 2009
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
In relation to the subsequent complaint that was discussed in question time today, this is being investigated, as was advised by the minister. I do agree with a number of points that Mr Hanson has raised; it is a very serious issue. But I do believe that the minister has addressed it here today, and we will be supporting the amendment to Mr Hanson’s motion. I will again also say that my sympathies and thoughts and best wishes go to all the parties involved in this case. Again, I would reiterate that we do need to be careful when we are discussing personal, private matters relating to people and debating them in the chamber, particularly in relation to the person who was infected which has led to this situation. I can imagine how distressing it is for them, and also that they are now seeing it discussed in the public arena. I think we need to keep that in mind at all times when we are discussing these sorts of matters.
MR SESELJA (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (3.21): I would like to commend Mr Hanson for bringing this motion forward today. I think it is an important discussion and a very important motion and it is worth reflecting on a few of the issues. Mr Hanson has given a detailed account of the background to this case and the reasons and the rationale for bringing this motion forward. But it is worth while, in listening to the debate, to touch on a couple of issues, particularly some of the misinformation that has been put out or information that has been, at best, confusing from various members of the government. It is worth touching on that.
I should start obviously with the severe impact on a lot of individuals and the fact that this is a very distressing situation. For Ms Gallagher to somehow claim that, because Mr Hanson has taken up the case of those who have come to the opposition, in some way there is a lack of compassion for anyone else is ridiculous. It is not backed by anything that has been said. It is quite reasonable for us to have compassion for all of those who have been affected.
We have had the personal representations from Dr Jeannie Ellis who has given, in quite some detail, her concerns at how this process was handled. In a very long email to the opposition—I will not go through it all; Mr Hanson has read some of it—clearly some very serious issues are raised. I will quote from part of it. She says in the second paragraph:
It is quite obvious to me that ACT health and Gallagher’s office are attempting to cover up what was a severe deviation from usual practice on the post-natal ward between the 28th August and September 3rd. The lack of adherence to routine protocol is the undeniable cause of the exposure of the most vulnerable cohort of the population to a very serious infectious disease.
We do not take that lightly and we are not going to not talk about it because Ms Gallagher does not want us to talk about it. These are serious issues and there is a lot of distress that has been caused as a result of this situation. It is worth talking about the distress at the impact. Dr Ellis goes on to say:
In simple terms, infants under 1 year of age are extemely vulnerable to any infections and are particularly susceptible to invasive, disseminated tuberculous disease. Infants under the age of 1 year are at the highest risk of mortality and morbidity. Possibly the most frightening aspect of this situation is that no-one
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video