Page 2303 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 29 August 2007
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Mrs Burke: Oh—
MR SPEAKER: Order, Mrs Burke!
Mrs Burke: It is all right for the minister to interject on me.
MS GALLAGHER: I interjected twice in yours when you got to the outrageous point. I have not even got to the bits that are going to get you going.
There are health professionals who have spoken to me who are going to seek to protect their reputation from the allegations that are being raised publicly by Mrs Burke, because of the unsubstantiated allegations that she keeps running. In fact, I have started collecting Mrs Burke’s media releases—which she tabled as evidence of her allegations last week—to be able to go through some of this misinformation.
Let me begin on 1 August, which is when Mrs Burke got a spurt of interest in health. She put out a media release about the Canberra Hospital’s emergency department and access block and made a whole range of allegations around the ACT’s emergency department, citing a report that had been released by a Professor Drew Richardson—which the ACT hospital had not even been involved in—and using that as evidence.
On 6 August, Mrs Burke put out a media release headed “ACT hospitals short of basic equipment”, saying:
… the ACT public hospital system is struggling even to provide basic supplies such as dressings and intravenous tubing.
Wrong. We have had it looked at: there is absolutely no shortage of dressings or intravenous tubing, and she has not been able to prove that there is. She says that nurses are threatened with the sack if they speak out about issues—again, wrong—and investigated—wrong. She has not been able to support her allegations.
On 3 August Mrs Burke took a big swipe at Calvary around the nursing hours per patient day, the allocation of staff on wards and that administrative staff are being counted in the calculations. We have agreed with the ANF on an EBA around this—specifically on this issue. But Calvary is managed by Calvary health care and the Little Company of Mary, and that is direct bashing of Calvary. On Friday, I met with the Little Company of Mary, who had—
Mrs Burke: I did not mention the name; you did.
MS GALLAGHER: Anyone who works in health knows who you are referring to. I met with the Little Company of Mary on Friday. I understand that they have been trying to contact Mrs Burke to talk to her about her allegations. They are extremely concerned. They are extremely concerned about the public lying and the public bashing that she is engaging in in relation to Calvary—not only the public system but Calvary private as well. On 13 August, a press release said:
… now we are on to our sixth or … seventh health reform plan and the Stanhope Government is still unable to actually improve the health system.
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