Explosive secret government documents have revealed the Palaszczuk Labor Government has been deliberately hiding the truth about the Queensland Maternity Crisis from Queenslanders.
Internal government emails and messages obtained by the LNP under Right to Information reveal:
- Maternity services at Mackay and Gympie Hospitals are “close” to shutting their doors.
- Queensland Health is resorting to flying-in obstetricians to cover shifts and avoid putting maternity services on bypass at more major regional hospitals than has been publicly revealed by the government.
- The Palaszczuk Labor Government’s desperate attempts to hide the truth about the maternity crisis and the risks to thousands of mothers and babies across the state.
- The Health Minister’s office is lurching from ‘one crisis to another’.
- The Health Minister’s office deliberately edited HHS communications to hide the fact they didn’t have a plan to fix the Maternity Crisis.
- The Member for Gladstone admitted to colleagues he will resign if maternity services aren’t restored to Gladstone.
Leader of the Opposition David Crisafulli said the Palaszczuk Labor Government had trashed the trust of Queensland mothers
“At a time when Queensland mothers haven’t been able to give birth where they live, the Palaszczuk Government was more interested in covering up the truth than restoring maternity services for Queenslanders,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“These emails reveal the maternity crisis runs far deeper than they are prepared to admit.
“The State Government has chosen media management over patient safety
“The chaos within the Palaszczuk Labor Government has been laid bare again as it lurches from ‘one crisis to another’.
“Queenslanders deserve a government that opens maternity services like the LNP did, not closes them like Labor does.”
Shadow Minister for Integrity in Government, Fiona Simpson said the secret documents again prove Queenslanders cannot trust the Palaszczuk Labor Government.
“These emails prove the government deliberately pulled the wool over the eyes of Queenslanders about the true depths of the Queensland Maternity Crisis,” Ms Simpson said.
“The Palaszczuk Labor cannot hide from their own words which proves they have no ‘real’ plan to fix the crisis and are more interested in managing the media.
“If you’re not honest about the problem, you’re not honest about finding a solution.
“Labor’s Integrity Crisis has shown when governments give up on integrity, they give up on governing for you, and this is another prime example of that.
“There has never been a more dodgy, rotten or incompetent government running Queensland than the third-term Palaszczuk Labor Government and it is expectant mothers who are paying a very high price for it.”
Member for Callide Bryson Head said there was no way Glenn Butcher or the Health Minister Yvette D’ath could keep their jobs after these latest revelations.
“Glenn Butcher and the Health Minister actively went out of their way to hide the truth from my community about how bad the maternity crisis really is – they have got to go,” Mr Head said.
“Glenn Butcher continues to choose his ministerial pay cheque over the people of Central Queensland and my community has had a gutful.”
Source: RTI: 3962/22 – https://www.health.qld.gov.au/system-governance/contact-us/access-info/disclosure-logs/disclosure-log-2022-2023
