Mr MILLS - 2008-09-17
Will the government support the opposition’s inquiry into acute health care services in the Northern Territory, which I gave notice of earlier?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I am not quite sure whether this is preempting debate on the motion that the Leader of the Opposition has just given. However, what we are doing as a government is implementing the recommendations of the Coroner and his report into the tragic death of Mrs Winter ...
Mr Elferink: That will be a no, then.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: The member for Port Darwin is at it again, Madam Speaker, with inane interjections. This is a very serious issue that this parliament is considering. I would have thought that the member for Port Darwin would want to hear my reply.
As I was saying, what we are doing is implementing the recommendations of the Coroner. On hearing the notice of the motion the Leader of the Opposition gave – and I do not have a copy of it in front of me – one of the issues that he raised there was analysis of the patient and nurse ratios. That was one of the specific recommendations of the Coroner - to implement this particular methodology. The Health minister has said we will implement the methodology that has been recommended by the Coroner, and not only will we implement it, we will get the country’s leading practitioner, in regard to the implementation of this type of system, to oversight it, independently of the Health Department.
I do not know how much more confidence …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: … these politicians opposite, who obviously have a great knowledge of this very technical and complex subject, over and above the country’s leading practitioner in this particular application of this methodology of staffing nurses to look after patients.
We will implement the recommendations of the Coroner. We will not conduct a witch hunt in this Assembly, defaming and making scurrilous allegations against people in the public service in regard to the opposition’s perceived role that they have in these affairs. We will go by the facts. The facts have been established by the Coroner and the government will implement the recommendations.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I am not quite sure whether this is preempting debate on the motion that the Leader of the Opposition has just given. However, what we are doing as a government is implementing the recommendations of the Coroner and his report into the tragic death of Mrs Winter ...
Mr Elferink: That will be a no, then.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: The member for Port Darwin is at it again, Madam Speaker, with inane interjections. This is a very serious issue that this parliament is considering. I would have thought that the member for Port Darwin would want to hear my reply.
As I was saying, what we are doing is implementing the recommendations of the Coroner. On hearing the notice of the motion the Leader of the Opposition gave – and I do not have a copy of it in front of me – one of the issues that he raised there was analysis of the patient and nurse ratios. That was one of the specific recommendations of the Coroner - to implement this particular methodology. The Health minister has said we will implement the methodology that has been recommended by the Coroner, and not only will we implement it, we will get the country’s leading practitioner, in regard to the implementation of this type of system, to oversight it, independently of the Health Department.
I do not know how much more confidence …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: … these politicians opposite, who obviously have a great knowledge of this very technical and complex subject, over and above the country’s leading practitioner in this particular application of this methodology of staffing nurses to look after patients.
We will implement the recommendations of the Coroner. We will not conduct a witch hunt in this Assembly, defaming and making scurrilous allegations against people in the public service in regard to the opposition’s perceived role that they have in these affairs. We will go by the facts. The facts have been established by the Coroner and the government will implement the recommendations.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016