Page 5997 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 8 December 2010
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But in just such a short space of time, for us to be in a position where it appears that all parties in the Assembly agree that things are not well, that there are serious cultural issues, that the serious allegations that have been raised by so many people cannot be written off as just one or two disgruntled employees, is a serious thing. I again commend Mrs Dunne for actually being the one to prosecute that case and to bring this to the attention of the community and the Assembly, not just today but most particularly today as we debate it.
Given that we have agreed on that, it does reflect on this minister’s ability to do it and we have real concerns about what this minister will do from here on in. The reports that the minister has not denied, the reports that the minister has refused to deny, about her behaviour when meeting with staff are very concerning. They are not befitting a minister in the ACT. They are not the standard of behaviour that we would hope for and expect from someone in that very important position.
We would expect that a minister who goes and meets with staff and meets with union delegates would be interested in listening to their concerns, would be interested in getting to the bottom of their concerns and would be hell-bent on fixing these problems. Instead, she blocks her ears. This minister blocks her ears.
That is part of the reason why Mrs Dunne has had to bring this to the Assembly today. The minister blocked her ears. The minister turned away and said: “I am just here to cover my backside. I do not really want to hear what the concerns are because that might cause me some problems. If I know about the problems, then I might be held accountable for them. There might be some political embarrassment for me. There might be some political problems.” In the meantime, we have matters that have been brought to the attention of the minister and members of this place, and now to the Assembly, that should be of concern to all Canberrans—the issues around racism, the issues around bullying, the issues around assaults, these systemic issues.
So what we have is an opportunity to actually do something about it, as Mr Smyth said, before we have a death, not waiting for something more serious to happen than has already happened, not waiting for something more serious than the serious assaults we have had, the self-harm, the bullying. We should get in in front of this.
Instead, we see it again today. We saw it before in the health debate. The Labor Party and the Greens have said, “Let us not have a proper inquiry.” And the Greens in particular have said, “Let us find a way of making it a less effective inquiry, one that does not have the full powers, one that cannot get the job done.” That is what we have again.
We had it last time. We had it with health. We had the opportunity to have a full inquiry, to have some openness and transparency, and the government and the Greens said, “No, we do not need to know about that.” Now we are in the dark. And the Greens and the Labor Party have again chosen to do that today.
It was only yesterday that Ms Hunter thought that an inquiry under the Inquiries Act was a good idea. It was only yesterday that Ms Hunter was going to move an amendment that would support and apparently enhance—
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