Page 3925 - Week 09 - Thursday, 25 August 2011
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separate Bimberi staff claiming the process was corrupted and problems were being covered up—with news that one member of staff was sacked after giving evidence and another stood down for their involvement in the review. The Canberra Liberals’ preference was that this matter be handled through a judicial inquiry. But even with evidence that due process was corrupted, ACT Labor and the Greens again conspired against calls for a more thorough inquiry.
Then there was the bullying report from the Canberra Hospital. Even as early as February 2010, when serious accusations were made by doctors about the hostile and intimidating work culture that they had to work in, the health minister’s response on ABC 666 radio was, “Well, what issues, Ross? This is the frustration I have.” That was on ABC 666, on Ross Solly’s program on 17 February 2010.
Amidst Ms Gallagher’s denial at the time, nine obstetricians had resigned in the last 15 months, citing a bad workplace culture and incidents of bullying. At least four doctors wrote to the health minister refusing to work in the unit until the issue of bullying was resolved. The minister’s position on bullying in Canberra Hospital has been cavalier, as she dismissed these as nothing more than doctor politics and mud-slinging.
The minister was happy to cover up the findings of a report into bullying in the obstetrics unit at Canberra Hospital. In true ACT Labor government form, rather than deal with the problems in a transparent and accountable manner, she threatened doctors and staff by proposing to dig up dirt on them by reviewing 10 years of previous medical board investigations.
Then we come to Neil Savery. The former ACTPLA chief executive, Mr Neil Savery, was in essence relieved of his role as chief planning executive, trying to maintain the integrity of the ACT planning process, through improper government interference by former Chief Minister Jon Stanhope and LAPS officials. According to Mr Stanhope, mounting tensions between Mr Savery and the government marked the final straw that led to the commissioning of Allan Hawke’s review of the public service.
The outcome of this review saw the independence of ACTPLA subsumed in the Environment and Sustainable Development Directorate and its director-general, Mr David Papps, assuming the chief planning executive role. Simply put, the review of the ACT public service was nothing more than an exercise to get rid of a public servant who dared to stand up to the government. As the Chief Minister puts it, “It’s a very clear instruction from me that I expect those differences to be resolved and that the situations that we have seen over the Giralang episode aren’t repeated because I don’t expect to see a situation like that again.” That was Katy Gallagher on ABC radio 666 on 18 July 2011.
The truth is that this government has missed the point. Getting rid of Mr Savery will not fix the planning problems in this city. You can only do that by addressing the serious issues raised by Mr Savery in a transparent and accountable way. And this ACT Labor government struck Mr Savery down for his efforts.
On top of all this, we have the Human Rights Commission’s report of almost 400 pages on its inquiry into the youth justice system in the ACT. It is a glaring
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