Dr LIM - 1998-04-22
I refer him to comments made by the gaggle of Labor members yesterday in relation to a report on allied health services ...
Mrs HICKEY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I think 'gaggle' refers to geese and is offensive.
Mr PALMER: Madam Speaker, as Minister for Primary Industry and Fisheries, I take great offence at the point of order.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! I ask the member for Greatorex to rephrase his question. Honourable members, please remember the comments I just made. Little time is left for questions.
Dr LIM: I refer the minister to comments made by noisy Labor members yesterday in relation to a report on allied health services in central Australia. What is the status of that report, and does he have concerns about the allegations raised in it?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, 'we have had it reformatted'. Those were the words the member for Nhulunbuy used in relation to his graph on mandatory sentencing, and that is typical of the way ...
Mr Stirling: I did not say 'reformatted' at all.
Mr Stone: Yes, you did.
Mr BURKE: 'We have had it reformatted', the member for Nhulunbuy said. I ask Territorians to take the sort of allegations that are raised in this House by the opposition in that light. That is exactly the way it raised allegations yesterday and peddled misinformation in relation to this interim report on allied health services in central Australia. I shall go through these allegations one by one.
Firstly, I wish to apologise to those people in Alice Springs who have suffered the tragedy of having a limb amputated. I apologise to them because I believe they have suffered enough from the trauma of their amputation without having the fool opposite, the member for Stuart, announcing in parliament that it was not necessary, and claiming on television last night that $700 000-worth of unnecessary amputations were conducted at Alice Springs Hospital last year. That was a complete and utter fabrication. I wonder if members opposite feel proud of themselves today for inflicting the suffering this misinformation has caused to these poor people who have undergone amputation. I wonder if they feel they have made some great political coup by making a few cheap political points at the expense of a small group of Territorians.
No one had to undergo an amputation at Alice Springs Hospital that was not absolutely necessary. I can assure those who may face such an operation in the future that it will not be done unless it is absolutely necessary. Not only have the brilliant strategists on the other side of this Chamber caused
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enormous damage to those who have already suffered, but they have also posed a huge problem for medical staff who have to tell people in the future that they need an amputation. Members may ponder on how our doctors and medical staff are to convince people to come into hospital for an amputation, which could be a lifesaving operation, when they reply that the Labor Party says that such operations are not necessary.
Mr Stirling: The report said they were unnecessary - not the Labor Party.
Mr BURKE: I shall put a few facts forward. Fact 1: the interim report is a collection of anecdotal submissions that are yet to be verified or confirmed by those who made them. Fact 2: the interim report was distributed to all stakeholders for comment, seeking confirmation of the validity of the allegations in that report. Fact 3: no legal action is being conducted by Territory Health Services against the consultants. Fact 4: consumer and parent groups and allied health staff are happy that the review is occurring. Fact 5: the reference to amputation involves one suggestion from one individual and occupied 3 lines in the 40-page interim report. The author of the report, whom I contacted yesterday, has since apologised for the embarrassment that it has caused. It is a pity the Labor Party is incapable of apologising for the hurt that it has now caused to that small group of Territorians. Fact 6: so far this financial year, there have been 8 lower-limb amputations at Alice Springs Hospital at a cost of $100 000. Thus, even the logic of the assertion is at fault.
I shall explain the basis of this report. Late last year, concern was expressed in Alice Springs by clients, professionals and others about the level of allied health services care. In my department, we had 3 options: to do nothing, to commission an in-house report to deal with the allegations and look for methods of addressing them, or to bring in outside experts to look at the situation and make recommendations. We chose the third option. Consultants were engaged. They took submissions, both written and oral, from some 100 individuals and groups. They then prepared a report based on those untested submissions, with some recommendations. In February, they sent the interim report back to the people they had spoken to for comment and feedback. That is why it is called an interim report. Note that I said February. This interim report has been around since then. It has been in the public domain for nearly 3 months ...
Mr Bailey: How come you didn't know about it yesterday?
Mr BURKE: I did. Read Hansard. It has been in the public domain for nearly 3 months, and now Labor is claiming there has been some sort of a cover-up. The report was sent back to those who contributed in the first place in order to receive further comment and feedback as to whether the consultants had got it right. They received comment and feedback - and Territory Health Services received a solicitor's letter threatening a defamation suit unless some of the allegations were corrected. Note that I said that my department received threats of legal action, which is the absolute opposite to what the member for Nhulunbuy huffed and puffed about yesterday.
The final report is being worked on. When it has been completed and reviewed by the department, I expect to receive recommendations from the department for action. That is how the system works. We identify concerns, we investigate and we attempt to solve the problems. What we do not do is take every untested complaint or allegation, accept it as fact, embellish it, damn the hardworking professionals in Territory Health Services and run off at the mouth simply to score some political points. What the members opposite need to think about is that they have impugned the reputation of hardworking Territorians. They have increased the sufferings of Territorians. They do not care that they are endangering the health of Territorians. In the words of a known healer, around Easter time: 'Forgive them, for they know not what they do'.
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Mrs HICKEY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I think 'gaggle' refers to geese and is offensive.
Mr PALMER: Madam Speaker, as Minister for Primary Industry and Fisheries, I take great offence at the point of order.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! I ask the member for Greatorex to rephrase his question. Honourable members, please remember the comments I just made. Little time is left for questions.
Dr LIM: I refer the minister to comments made by noisy Labor members yesterday in relation to a report on allied health services in central Australia. What is the status of that report, and does he have concerns about the allegations raised in it?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, 'we have had it reformatted'. Those were the words the member for Nhulunbuy used in relation to his graph on mandatory sentencing, and that is typical of the way ...
Mr Stirling: I did not say 'reformatted' at all.
Mr Stone: Yes, you did.
Mr BURKE: 'We have had it reformatted', the member for Nhulunbuy said. I ask Territorians to take the sort of allegations that are raised in this House by the opposition in that light. That is exactly the way it raised allegations yesterday and peddled misinformation in relation to this interim report on allied health services in central Australia. I shall go through these allegations one by one.
Firstly, I wish to apologise to those people in Alice Springs who have suffered the tragedy of having a limb amputated. I apologise to them because I believe they have suffered enough from the trauma of their amputation without having the fool opposite, the member for Stuart, announcing in parliament that it was not necessary, and claiming on television last night that $700 000-worth of unnecessary amputations were conducted at Alice Springs Hospital last year. That was a complete and utter fabrication. I wonder if members opposite feel proud of themselves today for inflicting the suffering this misinformation has caused to these poor people who have undergone amputation. I wonder if they feel they have made some great political coup by making a few cheap political points at the expense of a small group of Territorians.
No one had to undergo an amputation at Alice Springs Hospital that was not absolutely necessary. I can assure those who may face such an operation in the future that it will not be done unless it is absolutely necessary. Not only have the brilliant strategists on the other side of this Chamber caused
Page 186
enormous damage to those who have already suffered, but they have also posed a huge problem for medical staff who have to tell people in the future that they need an amputation. Members may ponder on how our doctors and medical staff are to convince people to come into hospital for an amputation, which could be a lifesaving operation, when they reply that the Labor Party says that such operations are not necessary.
Mr Stirling: The report said they were unnecessary - not the Labor Party.
Mr BURKE: I shall put a few facts forward. Fact 1: the interim report is a collection of anecdotal submissions that are yet to be verified or confirmed by those who made them. Fact 2: the interim report was distributed to all stakeholders for comment, seeking confirmation of the validity of the allegations in that report. Fact 3: no legal action is being conducted by Territory Health Services against the consultants. Fact 4: consumer and parent groups and allied health staff are happy that the review is occurring. Fact 5: the reference to amputation involves one suggestion from one individual and occupied 3 lines in the 40-page interim report. The author of the report, whom I contacted yesterday, has since apologised for the embarrassment that it has caused. It is a pity the Labor Party is incapable of apologising for the hurt that it has now caused to that small group of Territorians. Fact 6: so far this financial year, there have been 8 lower-limb amputations at Alice Springs Hospital at a cost of $100 000. Thus, even the logic of the assertion is at fault.
I shall explain the basis of this report. Late last year, concern was expressed in Alice Springs by clients, professionals and others about the level of allied health services care. In my department, we had 3 options: to do nothing, to commission an in-house report to deal with the allegations and look for methods of addressing them, or to bring in outside experts to look at the situation and make recommendations. We chose the third option. Consultants were engaged. They took submissions, both written and oral, from some 100 individuals and groups. They then prepared a report based on those untested submissions, with some recommendations. In February, they sent the interim report back to the people they had spoken to for comment and feedback. That is why it is called an interim report. Note that I said February. This interim report has been around since then. It has been in the public domain for nearly 3 months ...
Mr Bailey: How come you didn't know about it yesterday?
Mr BURKE: I did. Read Hansard. It has been in the public domain for nearly 3 months, and now Labor is claiming there has been some sort of a cover-up. The report was sent back to those who contributed in the first place in order to receive further comment and feedback as to whether the consultants had got it right. They received comment and feedback - and Territory Health Services received a solicitor's letter threatening a defamation suit unless some of the allegations were corrected. Note that I said that my department received threats of legal action, which is the absolute opposite to what the member for Nhulunbuy huffed and puffed about yesterday.
The final report is being worked on. When it has been completed and reviewed by the department, I expect to receive recommendations from the department for action. That is how the system works. We identify concerns, we investigate and we attempt to solve the problems. What we do not do is take every untested complaint or allegation, accept it as fact, embellish it, damn the hardworking professionals in Territory Health Services and run off at the mouth simply to score some political points. What the members opposite need to think about is that they have impugned the reputation of hardworking Territorians. They have increased the sufferings of Territorians. They do not care that they are endangering the health of Territorians. In the words of a known healer, around Easter time: 'Forgive them, for they know not what they do'.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016