Page 3216 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 22 August 2012
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community services. It was a disgraceful attack on people who were charged with looking after our vulnerable kids—a disgraceful attack. She should have known better. I was sitting here when Steve Pratt did exactly the same thing with the TAMS people. And we are seeing exactly the same culture with Mr Hanson attacking the Health people. There seems to be a thread of culture through here.
Mr Smyth: Point of order.
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, Mr Smyth. You can resume your seat, Mr Hargreaves. On the point of order, Mr Smyth.
Mr Smyth: I understand that Mr Hargreaves wants to do his valedictory on Friday, reminiscing about things that have gone on. You might bring him to order and ask him to address the emergency department performance information.
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Mr Hargreaves, come back to the priorities.
MR HARGREAVES: Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is that prevailing culture of criticism of the departments and the directorates that makes people feel under the stress that they do. I remember sitting there in the then department of health feeling that same pressure myself when I worked there. I did not crack, but I got the same pressure. I got it from those opposite, those people opposite, when I was a public service officer in the department of health—in the hospital, in the hospital executive, when I was trying to run the rehab and aged-care service. That is when I felt it.
The pressure that was coming from above and the people putting the pressure coming out of this place are enough, you would think, to break a human being. What has happened is that their pressure has broken one of our own. I do not see them fessing up to that.
I think it is a bit rich for these people to continually talk about this culture, this dysfunctional culture, within public health.
I want to turn to recommendation 13. It is another one with which I disagree. Mr Smyth made a bit of a noise about it earlier on—about the lack of public apology. I have to take great exception to this one. Madam Deputy Speaker, the rank hypocrisy exhibited in the speeches coming from those people opposite is gobsmacking. I do not see any evidence of an apology from those people for the exposing of the Chief Minister’s sister, the invasion of the privacy that they caused this nurse in our hospital system. She is owed an apology, and a public apology, from those people, if anybody is. Furthermore, there is a litany of that. There is a litany of this. They do not know how to do it. I do not think they can say “I’m sorry” if they stuff it up. I do not think they can.
Mrs Dunne did the same thing to my wife in this place. I ended up coming down here in an apoplectic rage. You do not invade the privacy of people outside this place.
Mrs Dunne: Relevance.
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