Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Mental Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a brief personal explanation as I claim to have been misrepresented.

Leave granted.

Over the past month the member for Leichhardt and I have been having a debate in the pages of the Torres News, the newspaper of the Torres Strait in Far North Queensland. Two politicians having a debate in a local newspaper is unremarkable, but I am taking the unusual step of making a personal explanation because of the member for Leichhardt's offensive and intentionally inaccurate language. My initial concerns highlighted the lack of inclusion of a Torres Strait Islander on the government's Northern Australia Advisory Committee. This resulted in a series of nasty personal attacks on me and my work as a senator for Queensland.

Mr Entsch wrote a letter to the editor of the Torres News which was published in the 7 to 13 July edition. He questioned my interest in the issue of tuberculosis in the Torres Strait and in Papua New Guinea, asserting that I had not been engaged. But he then stooped to this horrid and offensive statement:

She must therefore accept some responsibility for the death of at least one Australia citizen from this terrible disease.

In effect, Mr Entsch is publically blaming me for the death of a person from tuberculosis. This claim is offensive, unwarranted and wrong. The death of a woman from Saibai Island in April 2013 was tragic. TB, particularly multidrug-resistant TB, is still a threat to people living in the Torres Strait. It is also far too prevalent in the western provinces of PNG, and has been for decades. In 2012 the World Health Organization undertook a review of the arrangements that had been in place whereby thoracic specialists from Cairns travelled to the outer islands of the Torres Strait to conduct clinics for PNG citizens, who travelled across from the western provinces of PNG. The WHO review found that practices conducted in good faith by our very capable doctors and Queensland Health, with the best intentions, were leading to greater potential for multidrug-resistant TB in the population.

So, sensibly, effort was redirected to building capacity at the Daru Hospital in PNG so that patients are treated in-country, and treated well. AusAID has done a great job of managing these efforts. There is now capability to diagnose TB and multidrug-resistant TB at Daru. There is a purpose-built TB ward with accommodation for patients and for family members who may have travelled with them. There is a better system of managing medications, and a vessel now operates outreach services into the remote villages of the western provinces of PNG.

These are the facts. These actions occurred while Labor was in government, but my purpose is not to make a political point, just to state the facts. The truth is that I have been assisting the people of the Torres Strait and the western provinces of Papua New Guinea on the issue of TB since 2000 when I first raised this issue in the Senate. It is wrong to apportion personal responsibility to a senator or member of parliament fulfilling their role as a representative for any event that occurs, including this tragic death. It is morally wrong as well. But it went further. In his letter, Mr Entsch said:

What was her excuse for ignoring the Star of the Sea nursing home when it was falling down around the ears of residents?

The implication is disinterest. For the record, I have visited Star of the Sea on very many occasions from as far back as the early 2000s, asked questions at estimates over many years and worked with the government to receive additional funding when they faced difficulties in 2010. I am happy to have my record on Star of the Sea examined. Finally, Mr Entsch asserted:

… and for ignoring the plight of outer island communities as they faced sea water inundation each king tide.

Frankly, Mr Entsch exposes himself as a johnny-come-lately when it comes to climate change impacts in the Torres Strait. I first raised this issue in the Senate in April 2001. I have spoken at least five times in this place about coastal erosion and sea level rises inundating properties on the outer islands of the Torres Strait. The truth is that the Howard government had no mitigation program to protect people and property from climate change impacts. It was our government which initially funded the base line tidal surveys and then funded $12 million for sea wall construction. My purpose today in this personal explanation is to correct the record. Politics can be a rough game. I do not shy away from a good policy debate, but this time Mr Entsch's words have gone too far. I call on him to withdraw his vile words and return some dignity to the political debate in the Torres Strait media.