❓ The Premier is questioned about a damning Auditor General's report regarding undeclared gifts and benefits received by Department of Health officials and the Premier's responsibility in addressing this systemic failure.
AnsweredQoN 306Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
DEPARTMENT OF
HEALTH — GIFTS AND BENEFITS — AUDITOR GENERAL REPORT
306. Mr M. McGOWAN to the Premier:
I refer to the damning Auditor General's report into
the acceptance of gifts and benefits by Department of Health and health
services officials, and the Premier's comment in May 2011 that there
are strict rules in place and that any gift received must be declared.
(1) In light
of revelations that 85 per cent of gifts were not declared, what personal
responsibility does the Premier take for this systemic failure?
(2) Will the
Premier censure his Minister for Health for failing to implement adequate
reporting regimes, resulting in the careers of health professionals being
placed in jeopardy?
(3) If there
are now strict rules in place, will the Premier guarantee that the $800 000 in
declared gifts received by Health staff between November 2011 and March 2012
comply with these new rules?
HEALTH — GIFTS AND BENEFITS — AUDITOR GENERAL REPORT
306. Mr M. McGOWAN to the Premier:
I refer to the damning Auditor General's report into
the acceptance of gifts and benefits by Department of Health and health
services officials, and the Premier's comment in May 2011 that there
are strict rules in place and that any gift received must be declared.
(1) In light
of revelations that 85 per cent of gifts were not declared, what personal
responsibility does the Premier take for this systemic failure?
(2) Will the
Premier censure his Minister for Health for failing to implement adequate
reporting regimes, resulting in the careers of health professionals being
placed in jeopardy?
(3) If there
are now strict rules in place, will the Premier guarantee that the $800 000 in
declared gifts received by Health staff between November 2011 and March 2012
comply with these new rules?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(3)
It is clear that there has been, within the health portfolio in particular,
perhaps a culture or long-term pattern of people receiving gifts. I caution
members to not jump to the conclusion that that is in any way influencing the
decisions of those people. Those gifts may be quite token and small; others may
be in the form of attendance at a conference on a medical issue or the like,
and I think we have to judge whether those are appropriate or not. We also need
to look carefully at any particularly large gift, but certainly any gift needs
to be declared. This issue will be in a later matter of public interest and it
falls under the responsibility of the Minister for Health, on advice from other
agencies. I am quite confident that the minister and the Director General of
the Department of Health will tidy this up, but this has clearly been going on
for years. I do not jump to the conclusion that so-called gifts are necessarily
inappropriate; I think we have to look at the individual and each individual
case, and that is what is happening.
It is clear that there has been, within the health portfolio in particular,
perhaps a culture or long-term pattern of people receiving gifts. I caution
members to not jump to the conclusion that that is in any way influencing the
decisions of those people. Those gifts may be quite token and small; others may
be in the form of attendance at a conference on a medical issue or the like,
and I think we have to judge whether those are appropriate or not. We also need
to look carefully at any particularly large gift, but certainly any gift needs
to be declared. This issue will be in a later matter of public interest and it
falls under the responsibility of the Minister for Health, on advice from other
agencies. I am quite confident that the minister and the Director General of
the Department of Health will tidy this up, but this has clearly been going on
for years. I do not jump to the conclusion that so-called gifts are necessarily
inappropriate; I think we have to look at the individual and each individual
case, and that is what is happening.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.