Page 5968 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 8 December 2010

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to manage what is a very complex issue. Workforce culture issues and disagreements, workplace conflict, happen in every single workplace that I can think of. Dealing with them, responding to them, ensuring people are protected through that process is a very difficult process to manage. We were given very clear advice from those who wished to participate that they would not participate unless they were afforded protections through their disclosures. And this is what has—

Mr Hanson: As they would have been under the Inquiries Act.

MS GALLAGHER: The Inquiries Act was actually a different process, a very public process, where the opposition wanted to subpoena potential victims of workplace conflict to come and present their story.

Mr Hanson: They all wanted to come forward.

MS GALLAGHER: No, they did not, Mr Hanson. You are very clearly not listening to everybody in the workplace. You are listening to some and not all. That is not correct. You have to be careful here. You can represent the needs of one group within this very complex situation but, when you involve everybody, it is across the board. It is not as clear cut as Mr Hanson would like to sit and believe. This is extremely complex. No one person was at fault, in my belief. From my looking at this, there is no one person to hang out to dry.

Mr Seselja: You do not know.

Mr Hanson: How do you know? I thought you had not been briefed. Whoops!

MS GALLAGHER: Because, Mr Seselja, the public interest disclosure process was one element of the review that was being undertaken into obstetrics and gynaecology at the Canberra Hospital. And my considered view, through meeting staff, through reading the clinical services report, through speaking with experts, is that—and I think the clinical services review pointed this out—there were a range of issues, system issues and individual workplace conflict issues. And that is the nature of the complexity of the situation we are dealing with.

The Liberals want to name and shame. They want someone on the front page of the Canberra Times and they will not rest until they get that. The law protects people who have provided disclosures. The advice to me is very clear about what information can be made public. I have made that information public and I have said twice here today—not that the opposition listened at any point of that—if you were genuinely concerned about the service provision and the staff in that unit, you would understand the fact that the investigation has resulted in a range of actions being taken, of which I will update the Assembly at frequent intervals.

MS BRESNAN (Brindabella) (3.40): I seek leave to move a technical minor amendment to my amendment.

Leave granted.


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