Full transcript - Final - Queensland Parliament - Queensland ...

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312 Private Members' Statements 9 Mar 1999 connection with medical gas supplies is performed at the highest safety levels." I table these three letters to show how incompetent the Minister is. Time expired. Clean Up Australia Day Mr ROBERTS (Nudgee—ALP) (10.23 a.m.): I take this opportunity to congratulate the organising committees for Clean Up Australia Day, which was held last Sunday, 6 March. I also thank the many volunteers who turned up all over Queensland to join with thousands of other Australians in cleaning up our parks, streets and waterways. This year I participated for the fifth time and assisted a willing band of workers at Nudgee Beach, which is adjacent to the Boondall Wetlands. Clean Up Australia Day is a unique event. It is probably unparalleled in the world and it should receive our continued and increasing support. This year marked the 10th anniversary of the event, which was originated by Ian Kiernan, who highlighted the need for a coordinated strategy to clean up the environment in which we live. It is timely, therefore, to make some comment about Clean Up Australia Day which I hope will be taken as a constructive criticism and in an endeavour to involve more Queenslanders in the annual clean-up. While it might have been a pleasant 21 degrees in Melbourne last Sunday, throughout Queensland it was a sweltering 30 degrees plus up and down the coast, and in the mid thirties in our inland centres. Calling on volunteers to toil in the sun in such temperatures is a big ask, particularly given our campaign to limit exposure to the sun during the hotter months. It is time for the national organising committee for the Clean Up Australia campaign to reconsider the timing of this great event. I suggest that the event be moved to at least the end of March or another month when the temperatures in Queensland would be much milder. Queenslanders have rallied behind this event since its inception. A cooler time of the year would hopefully encourage more people to volunteer their time and effort to clean up this wonderful country of ours. Queensland Health Mrs SHELDON (Caloundra—LP) (10.24 a.m.): It has come to my attention that certain employees of Queensland Health are being threatened and intimidated by being told that they are not to discuss any issues pertaining to public health with their elected representatives. This overbearing practice is particularly prevalent on the Sunshine Coast. It has got to the stage where health workers employed in our hospitals and in the community, regardless of their professional standard, are fearful of losing their jobs if they seek to speak to their member of Parliament regarding legitimate concerns they have regarding the provision of adequate health services, the provision of adequate infrastructure and the timeliness of service provision. Evidently, the Health Minister, Wendy Edmond, has issued a directive to her regional managers that, should any employees exercise their democratic right and speak to their elected representatives, they face losing their job. I was unaware until recently that we were living in what can only be described as a Nazi State. When I have questioned this overriding practice I have been referred to the code of conduct for Queensland Health effective 11 November 1998. I have perused this document in detail and it would be drawing a very longbow to suggest that any of the principles outlined therein would support this action. I understand union officials and their membership in public health are similarly being threatened and intimidated, and I refer to the Sunshine Coast District Health Service report of January 1999 signed by Philip Cleaton, District Manager, on 4 February 1999, in which he says that he has ensured that the newly released code of conduct is understood clearly by AWU members. This code is in line with the Public Sector Ethics Act of 1993. It is not intended to be used as an instrument of intimidation. Perusing the contents, I find that there is no mention of restrictive access to members of Parliament, although at page 8, under principle 3 Integrity, item 7 states that— "Employees should observe official protocols when communicating with members of Parliament." I ask the Minister: what is an official protocol? Does that mean that one does not go and see a member of Parliament? I also draw attention to page 7 under principle 3 Integrity, item 3, which says— "When disclosing official information employees must ensure lawful authority." Is this an item which may be used to control employees? Time expired.
9 Mar 1999 Questions Without Notice 313 Police Beat Shopfront, Garden City Mr REEVES (Mansfield—ALP) (10.27 a.m.): Prior to the election last year, the Labor Party and I campaigned strongly on community policing. To be effective in crime prevention and management, we must put police on the beat where the people are. While we did not specifically promise it in the election campaign, I am proud to say that the first Police Beat shopfront opened under the Beattie Government has been opened in Garden City in my electorate. With over 200,000 people using Garden City per week, it makes sense to put our police where the people are. Here is an example of our Labor Government delivering on our election commitments. Just after being elected in June last year, I was approached by the Garden City management, AMP, to investigate the possibility of having a Police Beat shopfront in its centre. All past attempts to talk to the previous member for Mansfield regarding the possibility of having a Police Beat shopfront appeared to fall on deaf ears. The previous member continued the line of the then Police Minister, Russell Cooper, the member for Crows Nest, to only pay lip-service on community policing and not be fair dinkum about the matter. So I am pleased to informed the House that, while the previous Government put community policing on the backburner, Police Minister Barton has put it at the forefront in the tackling of crime. I believe that having greater police presence and visibility will have a positive effect on the crime rate, and that is why I have worked hard and lobbied the Police Minister to ensure that Garden City gets this shopfront. It is interesting to note that Garden City was the very first shopping centre to have a Police Beat shopfront back when the Goss Labor Government introduced them. That was obviously a mobile shopfront which went from shopping centre to shopping centre, but it was launched initially at Garden City. So I am proud to say that now a permanent shopfront is situated at Garden City. Having the police shopfront where the community shops and socialises and from which they commute breaks down many of the barriers that people have of feeling uncomfortable if they need assistance or advice. This initiative is particularly helpful to local business owners worried about security in their shops. I am pleased to work with organisations such as AMP which do not just look at what it costs but how they can assist the community. I want to thank the Police Minister, Tom Barton, not only for recognising the need for such a police shopfront at Garden City but also for what he is doing for community policing throughout the length and breadth of this State. The Police Minister is delivering on the commitment that we would put community policing at the forefront in the tackling of crime. Time expired. Drug Abuse Mrs GAMIN (Burleigh—NPA) (10.29 a.m.): A national heroin trial is not the solution to the ever-increasing problem of drug abuse in this country. A heroin trial will not assist heroin addicts to kick the habit. Instead, it will guarantee that participants will remain as heroin addicts. The New York experiment with zero tolerance certainly worked for that city, although more work needs to be done to see if it will work in Australia. Zero tolerance will get drug dealers out of concentrated problem areas, but may shift the problem to other localities. As much of our drug dealing culture is imported from overseas, it would be better to aim any zero tolerance problem to shifting that culture offshore and out of this country. Drug courts are a step in the right direction, provided proper rehabilitation programs are adequately funded, and this should be a whole-of-Government initiative, not just a bit of a bite out of the limited budgets of Health or Corrective Services. The State Government needs to fund more antidrug and substance-free rehabilitation agencies, such as Mirikai, the Gold Coast Drug Council's establishment at West Burleigh. Mirikai provides residential and outreach programs for people who want to kick the drug habit and who want to turn their lives around from drug dependency and its attendant health and social problems. Time expired. Mr SPEAKER: Order! The time for Private Members' Statements has expired. QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE Toowoomba Hospital Miss SIMPSON (10.30 a.m.): I refer the Minister for Health to her decision to sack the district manager, director of medical services and director of nursing at Toowoomba Hospital due to the hospital's projected budget blow-out of more than $7m. Given that Royal Brisbane Hospital is now $14m over budget, Redcliffe and Caboolture Hospitals are $2m over budget, Nambour Hospital is $2.5m over
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Full transcript - Final - Queensland Parliament - Queensland ...

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