Page 3366 - Week 08 - Thursday, 23 August 2012
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daring to speak out about due process, for daring to question whether or not the government should be spending money more wisely, in the case of Debbie Scattergood.
We have heard so many other stories of people who do not want to speak out, and we can understand that when they see how some of these people are treated. That is the message that this government sends, that you should not speak out. We have had nurses come to us and tell us how they have been bullied out of their jobs at the Canberra Hospital. This minister did nothing to help them.
We do believe that there are some improvements in this bill, and that is why we will be supporting it. We will be supporting the legislation. We have been strong supporters of whistleblowers. I think we know a whistleblower when we see one. It is not about just disgruntled employees. We have raised the cases that I have referred to in my speech. I do not think anyone could say that Neil Savery was just a disgruntled anti-government activist—anything but! He was a loyal servant of this government. He was someone whom I often had many disagreements with over policies and over direction. There were lots of planning issues that I disagreed with Mr Savery on, but I respected the work that he did. I respected the professionalism which he showed in doing that. He was undermined.
Debbie Scattergood was undermined. Doug Buchanan was undermined. And so many others have been undermined, have been bullied in their jobs.
In conclusion, we are prepared to give this legislation a go. If it needs further improvements down the track, we will look at them as well. But you need to get to the heart of it, because legislation does not fix culture. Legislation does not fix attitudes. It can help, but you need leadership from the top. You need leadership from ministers and senior managers within departments. That has not happened over the last 11 years. I do not think there is any evidence that if the Labor Party is re-elected in October that will in any way improve.
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Leader, ACT Greens) (12.05): I am very pleased to speak to this bill today and to support the changes. It is significant, and I understand the legislation will be some of the best in the country.
I will start with a story about public interest disclosure, about whistleblowing. It was included in a book by the Hon Justice Spigelman. He spoke about the case of Detective Sergeant Phillip Arantz who, in November 1971, leaked to the Sydney Morning Herald a secret report on the incidence of crime in New South Wales. Arantz was a key member of the research branch of the police department responsible for the collection of crime statistics, and he had noticed that the police commissioner’s annual report to parliament contained false statistics on crimes committed and on solution rates. All his attempts to correct the information internally were rebuffed.
He first leaked information to parliamentarians, but their questions in parliament were ignored or evaded and the true statistics remained secret. Frustrated, Arantz gave a full report to the Sydney Morning Herald. He was disciplined for a breach of public service rules and dismissed from the force. Even more disturbingly, his conduct was
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