Page 2856 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 17 September 2014
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
I take this opportunity to acknowledge the ANMF—I will make sure that I do not say ANF; it is the ANMF—who are here with us today in the gallery and acknowledge the work that they do in representing the staff not just at the hospital but nursing staff and midwifery staff throughout our community, and commend them for the work that they have done in advocating on this issue. I know that they do a great job in providing the advocacy role for the nursing and midwifery staff—as they should, because being a nurse, and in particular a mental health nurse, is about as tough a job as you could imagine.
As we sit here in a very safe, comfortable and easy environment, we can all imagine how difficult it would be to work in an environment where you are dealing with people who are mentally ill, the complexities of that and how difficult that is. I know that they do that with compassion and I know that they do that professionally. But there is no doubt that it is a risky environment. We have a responsibility in this place—in particular the minister has a responsibility—to make sure that, as far as is humanly possible, not only are we treating and looking after mental health clients but that the nurses, the carers, are provided with a safe environment in which to do that work.
It is clear that that has not occurred. We know it has not occurred because there has been a provisional improvement notice put on the adult mental health unit. This is not fear mongering. This is not some sort of political exercise. This is in response to the fact that there has been a failure, there has been a breakdown, the system has not worked, and now we have a provisional improvement notice and things need to be fixed.
The minister has moved an amendment. Although she has said she is supporting Mrs Jones’s motion, what she is actually doing is omitting all words and then coming up with something completely new. I think that it is better than nothing—there is no doubt about that—and we will walk away today with a result for the nurses. But it is disingenuous indeed for the minister to say that she is supporting the motion when she is doing anything but, as she is essentially watering down Mrs Jones’s motion. If she supports the motion then she should not move an amendment. That is what I would say.
With regard to the comments from Mr Rattenbury, it is disappointing that Mr Rattenbury, on an important issue like this, which should evoke some passion, cannot seem to muster it. He is just blindly following the government again. If only he could show the same sort of passion for the safety of our nurses as he does for light rail and debates on renewables, as we have seen this week, and perhaps on euthanasia tomorrow, we would have a situation where nurses could have greater confidence in the Greens minister. But that was a bland, passionless speech, and I think it reflects the attitude that we have seen.
I know that he is in a battle of his own—and he did refer to it—at the jail. Staff there are concerned about their safety. I know that the CPSU today has raised concerns about staff safety there. This government as a whole need to pay attention to their staff, and to the staff unions, when issues of safety are raised. There are always going
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video