Page 1074 - Week 04 - Thursday, 21 May 2020
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Mrs Jones: On a point of order, Madam Speaker, the question was not about “broad clinical effort”, which are words the minister is using to not answer the question. On relevance, the question was why he did not get the person an independent psychiatric assessment. He is not answering that question.
MADAM SPEAKER: He is referring to the care provided to this individual and to his role as the responsible minister.
MR RATTENBURY: Madam Speaker, I can assure you that I am coming to Mrs Jones’s point. The interjections make it difficult to get there. The point is that I have received significant clinical advice that the detainee had an extensive care plan and that that care plan was appropriate. That was the best clinical advice that I was receiving. I have received considerable updates on this matter and I continue to take a strong interest in it, because of the complexity of the individual involved.
MR MILLIGAN: Minister, why have you failed to send a clear message on Aboriginal deaths in custody? When will you admit that the Greens are simply full of empty words?
MR RATTENBURY: We are absolutely committed to trying to address these matters. That is why we have put in place a series of both policy decisions and funding initiatives to try to address Indigenous incarceration. That is not just through my portfolios but also in portfolios across the government. No death in custody is acceptable. We work incredibly hard to keep detainees safe at the jail. Things have gone wrong in the past; that is why we have had inquiries and we have implemented the outcomes of those inquiries.
Opposition members interjecting—
MADAM SPEAKER: Members, I remind everybody not to make interjections while a member is on the floor talking.
Mental health—patient follow-up
MR MILLIGAN: My question is to the Minister for Corrections and Justice Health and Minister for Mental Health. New South Wales coroner, Harriet Grahame, recently reported on her inquest into the death of a young Aboriginal man from Canberra at Junee prison in 2018. In July 2017 an ACT magistrate, refusing bail for this man, remanded him in custody at the AMC pending a mental health assessment at the Canberra Hospital. After being admitted, he walked out of the hospital and fled to New South Wales. There, he was subsequently tried, convicted of an offence and jailed. Tragically, while in custody, he later died by suicide. Minister, why was this man able to walk out of Canberra Hospital?
MR RATTENBURY: The coroner went through that in some detail in her report. For the sake of accuracy, I will take that question on notice, so that I can provide the details to Mr Milligan.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video