13 August 2012

Zed to move no confidence over the health statistics scandal. Assembly shutdown.

| johnboy
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The Greens are talking themselves out of my vote with their shocking (yes I have been shocked) complacency in the health statistics scandal.

But the Liberals’ Zed Seselja has at least not given up yet and has announced he’s moving a no confidence motion.

“Tomorrow, I will move a motion of no confidence in the Chief Minister because of her repeated, serious failings,” Mr Seselja said.

“With Katy Gallagher as Health Minister, the ACT’s health performance has gone from one of the best to national worst.

“Doctors have been so badly bullied that they left the health system in droves.

“A senior health executive felt so fearful that they falsified 11,700 emergency department records for at least half the time Katy Gallagher has been Health Minister, and the Auditor General found there are almost certainly more people involved. This scandal is as serious as it gets and Katy Gallagher bears full responsibility.

“Since the scandal was exposed in April this year, Katy Gallagher repeatedly failed to disclose the extent of her close relationship with the health executive. Just weeks ago, it was revealed that she holidayed in France with the executive. This comes down to a question of honesty and integrity, and Katy Gallagher has abjectly failed.

The motion is unlikely to get up unless the Greens rediscover principle.

But it will shut the Assembly down for 7 days while the motion is considered.

With very few sitting days left before the election that’s probably the intended strategic outcome.

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johnboy said :

I believe there should be a serious public inquiry to identify all involved

I agree.

While the Chief Minister is not bound by the ACT PSMA, I can’t see any reason why the holder of that position might be “above” it. The ACT CM ought to lead by example, in my opinion.

johnboy said :

I believe there should be a serious public inquiry to identify all involved

I agree that that would indeed be the most appropriate course of action however the CM has chosen ducking and weaving as her modus operandi which clearly will have negative consequences.

Grail said :

And this wouldn’t have happened on Zed’d watch because …

Well, it didn’t, did it?

Or is this how politics works? You’ve formed some kind of tribal allegiance to one of these mobs of no-hopers, and so you have to engage your cognitive dissonance at Warp Factor 10 in order to blame the “other” side for whatever “your” side has just been caught doing?

What I don’t understand is that the person caught falsifying public records has been allowed to quietly resign and slink away with full entitlements to her next cushy sinecure.
Whatever happened to punishing wrongdoing?
And you wonder why the youth of today roams the streets at night looking for $#!% to steal?

As for blaming Katie Gallagher – the buck rests with her. But she didn’t do the crime. But she has failed to ensure the person responsible was punished. On the other hand, every hospital in the country has been doing the exact same thing. However they aren’t silly enough to get caught out publicly. My feelings are mixed, but I don’t see the point of using this to score political points against the bunch of posturing twits we have been saddled with in lieu of an effective City Council.

If one good thing could come of this, it would be for the government to make a firm commitment to the community that in future wrongdoing like this – like the Rhodium fiasco, like the Revolve shenanigans – would see those responsible punished on account of their dishonesty, with luck outsourcing such punishment to the Chinese government who have a very effective and cheap means of dealing with corrupt government officials.

johnboy said :

I believe there should be a serious public inquiry to identify all involved

And to identify and correct systemic weaknesses in reporting.

johnboy said :

She is responsible for the health directorate. Which was falsifying data.

So JB do you therefore believe she should stand down or resign given it occurred under her watch?

I believe there should be a serious public inquiry to identify all involved

Grail said :

And this wouldn’t have happened on Zed’d watch because …

Who knows? Why is it even relevant? Zed isn’t personal friends with the person who did this.

Mr Gillespie said :

It’s time for a change anyway, Labor have been in power for too long in the ACT, they stink federally, and whether or not that affects your judgment about who to vote for at this election, that is another question.

Oh and just in case you think I am making my own judgment based merely on the plastic bag issue, you better think again because there are many other things this government have done to heighten my contempt for them, in the years that they have been in power. The GDE is a prime example of how Gallaga/Stanhope Labor have stuffed up. And if Gallaga is behind the bad working conditions in the health system, then Zed is right to move a motion of no-confidence in her, election or not.

Labor smells, they have been in power since 2001, and I reckon it is time to give the Liberals another go.

johnboy said :

She is responsible for the health directorate. Which was falsifying data.

Lets see…

The GDE Stuff Up – lets inconvenience Canebrrans by building a single lane MAJOR road, so we can at least say we built it..and theres a few problems..LETS DUPLICATE IT!

Lets spend money on increasing bizarre public art and then let the local radio stations run campaigns to get Canberrans to donate to the Canberra Hospital for the stuff they need…..

Lets ban plastic bags but let us all PURCHASE plastic bags instead …and this helps how?

Lets face it – The data scandal was just the icing on the cake

And this wouldn’t have happened on Zed’d watch because …

Does Zed have any evidence to support his claim that Katy is responsible for the falsification of records?

Can Zed describe the Lineral policies for managing health that don’t involve spending money we don’t have?

She is responsible for the health directorate. Which was falsifying data.

VYBerlinaV8_is_back5:05 pm 13 Aug 12

Vote Green (when you want to vote for the Labor party but can’t bear to look at yourself in the mirror).

The Greens had had opportunity to really do something, and they’ve pissed it away on bulls***.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd4:02 pm 13 Aug 12

schmeah said :

Looks like Zed’s trying to prove the Libs actually stand for something in the last days before an election.

Him and his pitchfork mob are a waste of oxygen. Nothing new to see here.

correct. The only thing a party led by zed can bring is religion to our lives, wether we want it or not.

Labour is bad but the lesser of two evils, a zed in power is a scary scary thought.

Looks like Zed’s trying to prove the Libs actually stand for something in the last days before an election.

Him and his pitchfork mob are a waste of oxygen. Nothing new to see here.

Mr Gillespie3:51 pm 13 Aug 12

It’s time for a change anyway, Labor have been in power for too long in the ACT, they stink federally, and whether or not that affects your judgment about who to vote for at this election, that is another question.

Oh and just in case you think I am making my own judgment based merely on the plastic bag issue, you better think again because there are many other things this government have done to heighten my contempt for them, in the years that they have been in power. The GDE is a prime example of how Gallaga/Stanhope Labor have stuffed up. And if Gallaga is behind the bad working conditions in the health system, then Zed is right to move a motion of no-confidence in her, election or not.

Labor smells, they have been in power since 2001, and I reckon it is time to give the Liberals another go.

housebound said :

Shouldn’t we at least wait for the Greens response before we condemn it?

Do you think the response will be different to what’s being discussed here? I doubt it.

It appears to me that the ACT Greens will do whatever is necessary to ensure that ACT Labor does not lose this election; as they no doubt understand that without Labor, their chances of holding any power in the ACT will disappear almost overnight. I have no doubt they will vote against Zed’s motion tomorrow.

I once admired Shane Rattenbury for his stance on several issues in the 1990s, and I even voted for him when he first ran for election – but now all I see is a man that is part of a rotten team hell bent on retaining power at all costs.

For the first time in my voting life, I think I may have actually reached the point where I might actually vote informally in the upcoming ACT election – as I am having a hell of a problem finding anyone worth supporting from amongst the current offerings. Sad thing is, I can’t imagine I am the only one feeling like this at the moment…….

neanderthalsis3:17 pm 13 Aug 12

housebound said :

Shouldn’t we at least wait for the Greens response before we condemn it?

Is there any doubt as to how the Greens will respond. As JB pointed out in the original post, the Greens have been shockingly complacent in pursuing what are very serious questions of fraud and mismanagement that are very close to the Chief Minister. It is not in their political interest to harm ACT Labor, so they are more than happy to ignore the issue and hope for another four years of minority government with them behind the reins.

Shouldn’t we at least wait for the Greens response before we condemn it?

CrocodileGandhi said :

Mysteryman said :

CrocodileGandhi said :

Given there’s an election in a couple of months anyway, this headline should probably be “Zed to waste everyone’s time”.

Yeah. You’re right. Because massive, wide spread fraud presided over by the Chief Minister doesn’t warrant any serious and immediate consideration.

I’m not saying that what the current Government did is ok or trivial.I just don’t see what this could possibly achieve. The Greens are clearly not going to side with the Libs. All this will do is shutdown the Legislative Assembly for a week. A week that the whole Assembly could be spending getting stuff done (yes, yes, I realise that many may think that they never get anything done anyway).

It gives the Greens the opportunity in the lead up to the election to demonstrate that either they actually have principles, or that they are tolerant and accepting of high-level corruption.

neanderthalsis2:22 pm 13 Aug 12

Unfortunately the Greens will not do anything that could jeopardize the chances of a Labor victory come the election. They have had 4 years with their grubby little thumbs planted in the pie of power and they have relished every minute of it. Their political principles died the moment they realised that they had real influence over the governing party.

A Liberal government with a clear majority would see the Greens relegated to being a totally irrelevant political fringe party.

CrocodileGandhi2:05 pm 13 Aug 12

Mysteryman said :

CrocodileGandhi said :

Given there’s an election in a couple of months anyway, this headline should probably be “Zed to waste everyone’s time”.

Yeah. You’re right. Because massive, wide spread fraud presided over by the Chief Minister doesn’t warrant any serious and immediate consideration.

I’m not saying that what the current Government did is ok or trivial.I just don’t see what this could possibly achieve. The Greens are clearly not going to side with the Libs. All this will do is shutdown the Legislative Assembly for a week. A week that the whole Assembly could be spending getting stuff done (yes, yes, I realise that many may think that they never get anything done anyway).

CrocodileGandhi said :

Given there’s an election in a couple of months anyway, this headline should probably be “Zed to waste everyone’s time”.

Yeah. You’re right. Because massive, wide spread fraud presided over by the Chief Minister doesn’t warrant any serious and immediate consideration.

CrocodileGandhi1:33 pm 13 Aug 12

Given there’s an election in a couple of months anyway, this headline should probably be “Zed to waste everyone’s time”.

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