weekly hansard - Queensland Parliament - Queensland Government

23 Aug 2005 Questions Without Notice 2563
Queensland Ambulance Service
Mrs PRATT: My question is to the Premier. Acknowledging that this is not his portfolio, but in his
position as Premier of this government will he guarantee the wives and partners of ambulance
personnel who are wanting to become whistleblowers due to the stress understaffing has placed on
their families that anyone employed within the Ambulance Service will not be penalised through job loss,
demotion or lack of promotion for the actions of their concerned partners?
Mr BEATTIE: I am sensitive to ensure that people who have legitimate complaints within the
public sector have an opportunity to air them. In the Health area, for example, one of the
recommendations I am hopeful that will come forward from both Peter Forster and Tony Morris is better
ways of dealing with complaints from people within Health, including whistleblowers. There is always a
fine line between people who are genuine and people who are mischievous. We all know that. Not every
whistleblower or person who claims to be a whistleblower is fair dinkum. There are people with political
agendas, there are people with genuine axes to grind, there are personality conflicts—there are all sorts
of things. That is just life. Each one of the departments is a microcosm, if you like, of life generally. In
terms of people who are fair dinkum whistleblowers, the answer is that as a government we support
them, we support the whistleblowers legislation and we are supporting in both the health inquiries a
better mechanism to deal with them.
In terms of the particular cases that the member referred to, I understand the minister has been
across to talk to her to try to get copies of the letters with the names crossed out. I do not know whether
the member knows this, but any member on this side could have moved this morning that she table the
letters she had in her hand. Under the standing orders, the member would have had to have done that.
We did not do that, frankly, out of courtesy to the people who had written to the member who we regard,
until we know otherwise—and I do not know why we would end up with an ‘otherwise’—as genuine. We
did not seek to either embarrass the member or embarrass them.
If the member is asking me ‘Are genuine whistleblowers protected?’, the answer is yes. In terms
of some of the matters that the member has raised locally—and she is talking about current staffing
issues—I have talked to the minister about this because I heard what the member said this morning in
her two-minute speech and about the letters. He says that there are some issues due to staff sicknesses
and annual leave at the Kingaroy Ambulance Station. Indeed, there is one officer in charge who has
been on extended sick leave. One paramedic has recently accepted medical retirement. There is
another paramedic who is on sick leave as well whilst awaiting processes at WorkCover.
So there are a number of people who are ill at the station at the moment, which is putting
pressure on the station. The minister has indicated to me that he will follow these matters up and do the
best he possibly can to support the employees and work through these issues with the member. I have
a longwinded set of facts here and all sorts of other things with which we can make ourselves as a
government look terrific. I am not going to do that. What I am simply going to say to the member is that
there are some issues due to sick leave at the station she referred to. If the people whose names she
read out are the partners of those officers, then I urge the member to provide copies of the letters,
without referring to who they are, to the minister and let us see if we can give them the support they are
entitled to. We will support them. We are not interested in trying to victimise or punish anybody. We
actually want to ensure that the people who are providing lifesaving services are supported and that is
what the minister will do.
Mr SPEAKER: Before I call the member for Capalaba, can I on behalf of every member of this
House welcome into the gallery the veterans and friends from the Gaythorne RSL Club in the electorate
of Ferny Grove. They are here today as part of Seniors Week. Welcome to you all.
Household Water and Energy Efficiency
Mr CHOI: My question without notice this morning is to the Minister for Environment, Local
Government, Planning and Women. In light of the worsening drought in south-east Queensland and the
government’s commitment to take the lead on this issue, can the minister advise the House what is
being done to encourage household water and energy efficiency?
Ms BOYLE: I thank the member for Capalaba for the question. He is a member who has taken a
particular interest in sustainability and particularly water issues, I might say. On the topic of water, we
know that pretty much everyone in south-east Queensland and in many other spots around the state
knows that water and energy need to be conserved.
I am sure that many members of the House have noticed that the Beattie government has
announced yet another plank in its sustainability agenda with the requirement from 1 March next year
that all new homes in Queensland will have greenhouse efficient hot-water systems, energy efficient
lighting, AAA rated shower roses, dual-flush toilets and water pressure limiting devices. There are those
who want to minimise the contribution that householders can make house by house around Queensland
and they do so in error. The water savings really do add up. Using a AAA rated shower head saves