Page 3644 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 27 October 2015
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I suspect, Madam Assistant Speaker, that we would never have known about this if it were not for a very smart staffer in my office, Ms Brigette Morten, who, going through all the records, identified discrepancies in the data and put together a very comprehensive question without notice that was submitted to the Health Directorate. Shortly after, the whole thing blew up because when they started the process of answering that question it became apparent that there were massive discrepancies.
It is an important role that we play in opposition. It can make a difference but we should not have to be doing that—to uncover gross misreporting, active conspiracy to defraud the people of the ACT. Some 11,700 records were fabricated. Why, Madam Assistant Speaker? Why is the government not transparent? Let me tell you why in this case, and it goes to the culture that we still see permeating through ACT Health that has now led to a culture review of reports of toxic bullying.
The first reason was a political imperative, and let me quote from the woman who did the doctoring:
The whole organisation at a senior level is focused on performance. It’s seen as an imperative politically to ensure that we meet the target and I think people feel at different levels increasing pressures that need to be met.
The second reason was isolation and distress:
While accepting it does not excuse or in any way mitigate my actions the feelings of fear, isolation and distress I was experiencing clouded my judgment and my reality...
And the third reason was out of fear. The individual said:
The environment in the Executive at Canberra Hospital has increasingly become one where I felt fearful for myself and for other people that I work with.
That was the Auditor-General’s report. I remember when that was tabled—the minister and those opposite all said, “Well, that’s unacceptable, but we’re going to fix that problem.” What do we know? Now what we know is that, again, the minister has had to instigate a review into the toxic culture of bullying and mismanagement at the Canberra Hospital. That has come back with the AMA saying it is not going to work, it has been reported. So again we see a lack of transparency and again we see the same problems arising.
As members may be aware—it will be coming on the notice paper—we have seen a situation relating to people’s health but far more comprehensive than just health—that is, the Mr Fluffy saga. This has been a tragedy for so many people and it has had a significant impact on the ACT budget, so much so that when there was an inquiry conducted by the public accounts committee with two Liberal members and two Labor members, that bipartisan committee recommended that there be an inquiry under the Inquiries Act and that that report by March 2016. Although you have got the community calling for it, you have got Liberal members calling for it, you have got
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