Page 4031 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 26 November 2014
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Further, an internal inquiry into bullying and harassment claims was also undertaken. In relation to today’s motion that calls for the release of documents, Mr Hanson may well remember the debate that occurred regarding the publication of that review. If I remember correctly, he was ejected from the chamber that day, but he also came dangerously close to calling on the government to breach the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1994, not to mention threatening the integrity of the complaints processes.
Subsequent budget allocations, staff movements and many other actions were no doubt implemented in good faith to respond to those recommendations, and I am sure were actioned with the intention of not just changing the model of care and the management practice but also addressing wherever possible the apparent negative culture of some key staff.
It is fair to be asking questions about the issues that both reports may have raised, but I find it unfair to draw direct comparisons, as clearly a range of steps have been put in place and there has been considerable scrutiny of the issues raised in 2010. Be that as it may, the most recent RANZCOG report, discussing accreditation—as I said, I have not seen or heard of it outside of the media reports and the observations by Mr Hanson—is not a report of government as such, or at least that is what I understand to be the case. I understand it is a document the ownership of which lies with the college rather than the government. Therefore, I cannot support the motion’s call to release the report, based on that understanding of the documentation. I am also advised there are genuine concerns raised by current staff who also do not wish the report to be made public—not to avoid scrutiny but to offer some protection as the needed changes are addressed.
How the Assembly deals with these sorts of issues is a really interesting question. Workplaces have problems from time to time. Some of them are dealt with internally and improvements are made; others seem to make it into the media. It raises really important questions about how we deal with these things, both to ensure accountability is in place but also acknowledging that workplaces have difficulties at times and we need to let the managers manage those difficulties, work their way through them and sort these things out. That is what we pay these people to do. I think it is a very difficult issue for members of this place to consider.
What we have heard from the health minister and the Director-General of Health has been recognition that, yes, there are problems and, yes, they need addressing. As I see it, no-one is trying to hide from the fact that there seem to be cultural issues in that workplace that need to be addressed. I am sure that no-one is more disappointed than the health minister that many of these problems seem to be embedded despite a few public expositions and airings, not to mention the real business of running such a complex system and the many reviews and action plans. I think most people would think the effort that has been put in would make some difference.
I am certainly not convinced that these issues are of the health minister’s making. She has obviously had no personal hand in bringing about these problems; on the contrary, I think the directorate and the minister have clearly responded, and the minister has outlined a number of steps today to address what are obvious issues.
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