Page 3117 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 22 August 2012
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What happened occurred because of the culture that allowed the systemic failures and incompetence to fester and grow and go unrecognised …
There are, however, several distinguishing facts that make Ms Gallagher more culpable than Ms Carnell. In Kate Carnell’s case, it was a single instance of wrongdoing. In Katy Gallagher’s case, it was 11,700 separate incidents—the largest rorting of data ever come to light, a systemic and systematic pattern of deception that continued for years. In Ms Carnell’s case, she had no connection with the person who did the wrongdoing other than being Chief Minister. In Katy Gallagher’s case, she had longstanding, highly personal and professional connections.
Canberra is a small town, and some form of connection might be excused or even expected. But anyone with any sense knows that is different to extended families and family holidays together overseas. This is a person who attended Katy Gallagher’s birthday parties. Obviously this is a much closer connection than that between Ms Carnell and the public servant who did the wrong thing.
Katy Gallagher and others will, no doubt, make a great deal about the fact that Katy Gallagher personally did not do these wrongful acts. I remind this Assembly the Auditor-General at the time also found Kate Carnell personally did nothing wrong. Yet Labor still pursued her. Labor still found her guilty. Labor still held that ministerial responsibility dictated that she as Chief Minister must be held accountable.
I again quote Jon Stanhope:
Ministerial responsibility requires the individual responsibility of ministers to the Assembly for the administration of their departments and agencies. That is the standard. That is where the bar is set.
Indeed, that is where the bar is set. It is time now to see whether Labor will apply the same standard to their leader as they demanded of previous leaders or whether the bar is set differently for different chief ministers.
Lastly, and most importantly, Kate Carnell told the truth. She did not wait a week while she ruminated upon whether to reveal there was, in fact, a connection between her and the person at the centre of the scandal. She did not say there was nothing more to tell about the relationship when, quite clearly, there was a great deal more to tell. And she did not come up with some transparent tissue of fabrications and falsehoods to try desperately to appear to be distant when, in fact, the relationship was very close and very personal. There, Mr Speaker, you have the standards set by the Labor Party when in opposition. And there, Mr Speaker, you have Katy Gallagher falling far short of the standard required.
Katy Gallagher has failed utterly and completely in her administration. She has failed to deliver the service required by this community and has given us the worst performing health system in the country. On three separate instances she has misled the Assembly and the community—on the bullying inquiry, on the patient reclassification, on ED results. Her department has lied to the community for years about those failings, and Katy Gallagher has failed to tell the truth about the connections she directly has with the person at the heart of this matter.
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