WEBVTT - Episode 14: Payback 0:00:05.240 --> 0:00:06.680 My name is Hedley Thomas. 0:00:07.520 --> 0:00:10.119 Sick to Death is based on my book of the 0:00:10.160 --> 0:00:13.039 same name, and it's the true story of doctor Jan 0:00:13.119 --> 0:00:17.640 Patel's lies and manipulation and the herculean. 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:18.919 Effort it took to finally stop him. 0:00:19.520 --> 0:00:23.799 We've used voice actors throughout this series, and on occasion 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:26.920 the real people from the story have read their words 0:00:26.960 --> 0:00:27.480 for us. 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:32.040 It is brought to you by me and the Australian. 0:00:42.159 --> 0:00:48.640 Chapter sixty four Payback July two thousand and five. The 0:00:48.720 --> 0:00:52.480 evidence that the hearings in Bunderberg had been tragic, grueling 0:00:52.720 --> 0:01:01.720 and at times gratuitously graphic. Bloody wounds, cover ups, perforated bowels, maladministration, oozing, 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:06.640 pass missed opportunities, all of it amid tension and uncertainty 0:01:06.720 --> 0:01:10.040 raised by the looming Supreme Court challenge by Darren Keating 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:14.480 and Peter Leck. If the challenge should succeed in bringing 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:18.240 about the abolition of the inquiry, we feared it would 0:01:18.240 --> 0:01:23.639 all have been for nothing. In declaring himself unbiased, Tony 0:01:23.720 --> 0:01:27.600 Morris had made an impassioned speech about the ramifications of 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:28.280 his ousting. 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:31.280 It would, he explained. 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:35.800 Have very grave personal consequences for the individuals who wished 0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:38.160 to see an outcome to this, and the thing that 0:01:38.240 --> 0:01:42.000 presses most upon my mind is the gruesome stories that 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:42.960 we've heard over. 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:44.200 The past three or four weeks. 0:01:45.440 --> 0:01:49.880 He omissed mention of the grave personal consequences for himself. 0:01:52.000 --> 0:01:55.960 For most of the inquiry staff, journalists and the support crew. 0:01:56.120 --> 0:02:00.160 It was almost time to return to families in Brisbane. 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:03.240 We had been based in Bunderberg for a month in 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:06.360 the lecture hall in the Education Center where the evidence 0:02:06.480 --> 0:02:09.400 was being heard. Some of the reporters began planning a 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:13.160 fitting farewell to Bunderberg, a dinner party at the Indian 0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:19.359 Curry Bizarre restaurant, Patel's favorite. Jane Hodgkinson, the nine network 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:23.360 senior reporter, showed me a list of mock awards. They 0:02:23.360 --> 0:02:26.640 were directed mostly at the media, a few lawyers, and 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:30.440 the inquiry staff. We hoped they would raise a laugh 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:35.160 for being mentioned from time to time by Tony Morris, 0:02:35.360 --> 0:02:39.040 who had that day referred to me as quote the 0:02:39.080 --> 0:02:44.840 most reliable oracle quote while clarifying something I had actually misreported. 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:50.760 I would receive the teacher's pet gong. Sean Parnell, whose 0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:55.280 articles in The Australian had caused Maurice Heartburn was deemed 0:02:55.720 --> 0:02:59.320 best ghost writer for his absence from an inquiry he 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:03.000 kept writing about. There were a couple of gongs for 0:03:03.120 --> 0:03:06.680 the patients, for lifting his shirt to show his wound 0:03:06.720 --> 0:03:10.280 to journalists, and for asking the inquiry staff to post 0:03:10.360 --> 0:03:14.400 on its official website several photographs of his swollen and 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:18.600 split abdomen. Ian Fleming would receive a show me Your 0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:23.280 Wound Award, and one of our favorite patients, Beryl Crosby, 0:03:23.880 --> 0:03:27.840 the indefatigable chain smoking leader of the support group, would 0:03:27.840 --> 0:03:32.520 be blessed with a Dirty Ashtray Award. Jeff dem the 0:03:32.600 --> 0:03:35.640 lawyer for Darren Keating, would be flattered by his special 0:03:35.720 --> 0:03:41.160 mention an award for courage under fire. Similarly, John Allen, 0:03:41.760 --> 0:03:45.760 the tough but eminently fair lawyer for the nurses, would 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:50.720 receive a glowing tribute. Jane Hodgkinson, together with Channel ten's 0:03:50.800 --> 0:03:56.320 Dannie l Eisdale, Channel seven's Kathy Weiss, and myself, expanded 0:03:56.320 --> 0:03:59.840 the list. Word of our plans to party soon reached 0:03:59.840 --> 0:04:05.480 the Inquiry staff, who were all welcome. The affable senior 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:09.840 counsel assisting David Andrews was determined to make it a success. 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:14.040 He volunteered to bring plenty of wine before. 0:04:13.760 --> 0:04:14.800 We left for the day. 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:19.120 Linda Mulligan, the hospital's former director of nursing, whose management 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:23.040 style was criticized by Tony Hoffman and other nurses, gave 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:29.040 her evidence. Tony Morris looked and sounded agitated. He regarded 0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:32.200 Linda Mulligan's answers as unsatisfactory. 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:36.200 What I read in your statement is that every time 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:40.080 there's a problem, you give the textbook bureaucratic answer. You 0:04:40.200 --> 0:04:44.240 need more training, you need mediation, you need skills development, 0:04:44.520 --> 0:04:50.400 you've got communications problems. All those textbook bureaucratic answers, rather 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:53.960 than the natural reaction from a senior nurse, which is 0:04:54.000 --> 0:04:56.920 to go and support her staff, see what they're saying, 0:04:57.440 --> 0:05:00.960 provide them with the comfort they need, ascertained the facts 0:05:00.960 --> 0:05:04.120 for herself, and dealed with a problem in a hands 0:05:04.160 --> 0:05:04.679 on way. 0:05:05.920 --> 0:05:09.800 Mulligan's reply that she had suggested everyone sit down together 0:05:09.880 --> 0:05:15.320 did not plicate Morris. The next witness, George Connolly, a 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:19.560 white haired and frighteningly frail sixty seven year old, needed 0:05:19.600 --> 0:05:23.520 help to reach the stand. He took small steps while 0:05:23.560 --> 0:05:26.760 pushing along a large bottle of oxygen and other life 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:32.400 saving paraphernalia. Just drawing breath was an effort for Connolly, 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:36.840 who suffered from a collapsed lung and emphysema. 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:38.480 He was gravely ill. 0:05:39.160 --> 0:05:41.520 He wanted to talk about the death of his wife, 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:46.200 Doreen after a hospital bungle. Morris gave the widower a 0:05:46.279 --> 0:05:51.159 sympathetic hearing. Connolly asked to be able to say something. 0:05:51.240 --> 0:05:56.159 In closing with great effort, the emaciated pension slowly rose 0:05:56.200 --> 0:06:00.040 to his feet. In a rasping voice, he said. 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:04.600 Today and over the last weeks, we've heard a man 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:07.840 carry out an inquiry under enormous strain. 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:12.640 Connolly then raised his voice to ensure that nobody misheard. 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:16.440 The TV reporters knew even then that this grab would 0:06:16.480 --> 0:06:18.920 lead their report for the Evening News. 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:22.720 He's been pushed by the government, He's been pushed by 0:06:22.760 --> 0:06:26.120 everyone else under the sun. The hospital has taken him 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:30.960 to court and everything. I have nothing but more appreciation 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:33.960 for that man, mister Morris, for standing up and showing 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:38.440 guts and standing up and fighting our health system. And 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:41.600 I like everyone now to stand up put their hands 0:06:41.640 --> 0:06:43.520 together for mister Morris. 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:48.000 Those in the public gallery stood and gave Morris a 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:52.599 rousing standing ovation. The lawyers and the journalists remain seated 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:56.080 out of professionalism, and Morris looked deeply touched. 0:06:57.720 --> 0:07:00.400 Thank you, mister Connolly. We'll take a ten minute break. 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:06.520 After Connolly shuffled away, and news editors in Brisbane rewrote 0:07:06.520 --> 0:07:10.720 the bulletin the hits kept coming for Linda Mulligan. Her 0:07:10.800 --> 0:07:14.080 weighty written statement was likened by Tony Morris to a 0:07:14.160 --> 0:07:19.720 telephone book. Mulligan's barrister, Alan mcsparan told Morris that his 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:22.160 questioning was objectionable. 0:07:23.320 --> 0:07:26.160 You have entered the arena, taken an active role to 0:07:26.200 --> 0:07:30.120 denigrate this witness and in my submission quite unfairly. 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:33.640 Is there any reason why I can't use appropriate forensic 0:07:33.720 --> 0:07:35.360 resources to get at the truth? 0:07:36.200 --> 0:07:40.800 Morris replied, well, no one is objecting to you conducting 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:44.320 yourself and conducting the inquiry appropriately. 0:07:45.240 --> 0:07:46.600 Ms Boran said. 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:50.120 Well, mister leck Is, he's taking me to the Supreme Court. 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:56.119 Morris counted a few hours later at the restaurant, about 0:07:56.200 --> 0:07:59.440 thirty five of us headed upstairs to a special table 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:03.080 setting organized by Pam Samra, who used to look forward 0:08:03.080 --> 0:08:06.520 to Patel's visits there. We had most of the dining 0:08:06.600 --> 0:08:10.120 room to ourselves. The only other diners were at a 0:08:10.200 --> 0:08:15.120 table on the far side. About ten pm, Jane Hodgkinson 0:08:15.240 --> 0:08:18.800 asked me to join her in announcing the mock awards. 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:23.080 Halfway into the announcements, the diners on the far side 0:08:23.160 --> 0:08:27.680 arose to leave. On her way across the room, one woman, 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:33.360 Pat Matthews, spoke sharply. She said, oh, very nice. I'm 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:37.440 sure the patients would love to hear that. We groaned 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:40.240 when we discovered later that she was head of the 0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:44.920 Patient Liaison service for Queensland Health. Her words had cut 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:48.680 the jovial atmosphere to ribbons. The banter was muted in 0:08:48.720 --> 0:08:54.360 the hour before we headed back to our accommodation. The 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:59.240 next morning, David Andrews chipper as ever, despite his sore head, 0:08:59.640 --> 0:09:02.920 joined Tony Morris and the Deputy Commissioners on a visit 0:09:02.960 --> 0:09:08.680 to the hospital. Andrews recognized the district Manager, Monica Seth, 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:12.040 who had taken over from Peter Leck as the hospital's 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:15.720 manager in these trying times. She had been in the 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:19.640 group with Pat Matthews at the restaurant. On the last 0:09:19.720 --> 0:09:23.720 day of evidence in Bunderberg. Other Queensland Health staff took 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:28.160 time out to visit the inquiry. They jotted notes while 0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:33.080 scanning the public gallery to identify journalists and inquiry staff. 0:09:33.640 --> 0:09:37.479 Then they went back to work to swear statutory affidavits 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:43.079 accusing us of lampooning the patients in clinical episodes involving 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:48.400 harm to patients. Queensland Health staff had moved like aged sloths. 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:52.960 They took an eternity to investigate, even where lives were 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:56.920 at risk. But within twelve hours of last drinks at 0:09:56.960 --> 0:10:01.000 the Indian Curry Bazaar in Bunderberg, the acting head of 0:10:01.080 --> 0:10:05.520 Queensland Health, doctor John Scott, was relaying to Premier Peter 0:10:05.640 --> 0:10:09.239 Beatty a dozen Affi davits from the staff in Bunderberg. 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:13.880 Oblivious to the gathering storm. Many of the reporters in 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:17.760 the inquiry room were visibly moved by widow Tess Bramach. 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:21.719 She told Tony Morris and his two deputies. 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:25.080 The only comfort for me to let my husband and 0:10:25.160 --> 0:10:28.640 soulmate go is to think the health system will be fixed. 0:10:29.480 --> 0:10:31.880 I thank you on behalf of our children and all 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:33.400 the rest of Desmond's family. 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:39.280 In Brisbane, John Scott raised with Premier Peter Beatty whether 0:10:39.360 --> 0:10:44.040 our antics at the Indian Curry Bazaar might constitute official 0:10:44.120 --> 0:10:49.199 misconduct a criminal offense, so Beattie wrote to Robert Needham, 0:10:49.280 --> 0:10:53.000 the head of Queensland's anti corruption body, the Crime and 0:10:53.080 --> 0:10:57.560 Misconduct Commission. As we boarded the last flight from Bunderberg 0:10:57.640 --> 0:11:01.760 to Brisbane that Thursday afternoon, Morris already knew that Peter 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:05.200 Beatty had a bee in his bonnet about the previous night. 0:11:06.200 --> 0:11:09.960 Jane Hodgkinson and I swapped intelligence on what we had 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:13.440 heard might be brewing. We knew that something had been 0:11:13.559 --> 0:11:17.480 leaked to Sean Parnell at the Australian. I felt sure 0:11:17.520 --> 0:11:20.680 that if Parnell planned to write anything, he would call 0:11:20.760 --> 0:11:23.960 me first to check on the claims or to seek comment. 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:25.800 We had been colleagues. 0:11:26.800 --> 0:11:31.199 David Andrews was unworried as the aircraft left Bunderberg behind. 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:33.880 Nobody did anything wrong. 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:35.560 It's a nonsense. 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:43.080 The next morning, while reading the Australians online edition, I 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:44.839 see that the story that was. 0:11:44.800 --> 0:11:49.200 Published a raucus dinner involving barristers for the so called 0:11:49.240 --> 0:11:52.960 doctor death inquiry and journalists covering the proceedings has sparked 0:11:52.960 --> 0:11:57.240 a scandal in the central Queensland sugartown of Bunderberg. Premier 0:11:57.280 --> 0:11:59.560 Peter Beatty will be asked to take action over the 0:11:59.600 --> 0:12:03.360 dinner Bunderberg's Indian Curry Bazaar, which was attended by thirty 0:12:03.360 --> 0:12:07.600 three people and featured a mock awards ceremony. The complaints 0:12:07.600 --> 0:12:11.400 to mister Beattie raised the prospect of an official misconduct investigation, 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:14.720 which could only be done by the Crime and Misconduct Commission. 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:18.280 The Australian has learned the barristers assisting the four million 0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:21.960 dollar inquiry, David Andrews sc and Errol Moore Zone and 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:25.160 other Commission staff, were present at the dinner on Wednesday night, 0:12:25.800 --> 0:12:29.080 on the eve of the completion of the inquiry's bunderberg sittings. 0:12:29.400 --> 0:12:32.560 Two journalists presented a series of awards to those present 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:35.440 at the dinner, seemingly unaware that a group of health 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:37.400 staff were seated at a nearby table. 0:12:40.480 --> 0:12:43.960 The story went on to smear the inquiry staff, none 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:48.680 of whom had any prior knowledge of the mock awards. Surprisingly, 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:51.880 none of the inquiry staff or the journalists had been 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:56.400 contacted for and on the record comment the angle cut 0:12:56.480 --> 0:12:59.520 us deeply. The mock awards were poking fun at our 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:03.160 selves where the patients were mentioned. It was good humored 0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:07.760 to me. The Patel story was simple negligent health system 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:13.200 introduces negligent surgeon to unwitting patients, resulting in very poor outcomes. 0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:17.080 I saw Patel as part of a big picture and 0:13:17.120 --> 0:13:22.280 the catalyst for overdue reform. Sean Parnell took a generally 0:13:22.400 --> 0:13:26.439 contrary approach in his reporting. To his great credit, he 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:30.199 had identified major flaws in the conduct of Tony Morris 0:13:30.200 --> 0:13:35.120 as inquiry had. The explanation by Sean Parnell of these 0:13:35.200 --> 0:13:39.240 flaws was a recurring theme in his articles. But it 0:13:39.320 --> 0:13:42.439 seemed to me that in playing Marris the man harder 0:13:42.480 --> 0:13:46.040 than the ball, he focused less on the serious systemic 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:49.680 issues of the health system. This had the effect of 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:55.280 immunizing the political leadership and Queensland Health's chieftains. The conduct 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:58.960 of Marris paled into insignificance compared with the plight of 0:13:59.000 --> 0:14:03.200 those patients unnecessarily dying or being maimed in hospitals because 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:08.600 of unsafe or inadequate care. The awards night triggered fast. 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:12.520 Beattie and his staff began to flood media outlets with 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:17.000 copies of the affidavits. The Premier ordered the state government 0:14:17.120 --> 0:14:20.440 jet to go to Bunderberg to meet patient in Fleming 0:14:20.480 --> 0:14:24.280 on the tarmac, and in one of his most repugnant 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:28.040 performances of two thousand and five, the politician hugged him 0:14:28.240 --> 0:14:31.280 like a long lost brother while apologizing repeatedly. 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:32.680 Danny l. 0:14:32.720 --> 0:14:36.680 Eisdale and the ABC's reporter Alex Graham, both of whom 0:14:36.720 --> 0:14:41.040 witnessed the embrace and the platitudes, were disgusted. Fleming appeared 0:14:41.040 --> 0:14:45.760 to be crying when Alex Graham asked Bettie at an 0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:49.520 impromptu press conference on the airport tarmac whether his calls 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:54.080 for a crime and Misconduct commission inquiry, his apparent outrage, 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:57.640 and his use of public funds to divert the jet 0:14:57.680 --> 0:15:00.680 to Bunderberg for the photo opportunity with it Ian Fleming 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:04.600 were really desperate attempts to divert attention from the crisis 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:09.920 plaguing his government. Betty turned on the aggression, as Alex 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:13.560 Graham had been at the restaurant. Beatty angrily declared to 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:16.280 her that she had no right to be asking him 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:21.080 about his responses. She showed great composure and common sense. 0:15:21.560 --> 0:15:24.560 She turned to an ABC colleague and asked him to 0:15:24.640 --> 0:15:28.600 repeat the question. Beattie wanted the reporters who had been 0:15:28.680 --> 0:15:31.880 what he called ring leaders at the Awards Night banned 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:36.120 from covering the inquiry. He wanted me taken off this assignment. 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:40.160 If not fired, it was the ultimate get square. His 0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:43.600 staff sent the affidavids to David Fagan, the editor. 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:49.600 Beattie thundered the major players in this shouldn't cover the 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:50.720 inquiry anymore. 0:15:51.920 --> 0:15:55.680 Back in his chambers at George Street, Brisbane, Tony Morris 0:15:55.760 --> 0:16:00.680 was almost apoplectic with fury. He had the Australian newspaper 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:03.360 in his sights. In a ten am media release and 0:16:03.400 --> 0:16:07.080 a subsequent fiery media conference, the. 0:16:07.040 --> 0:16:10.320 Story written by Sean Parnell is a monstrous beat up 0:16:10.680 --> 0:16:14.000 and calls into serious question the author's motives, if not 0:16:14.120 --> 0:16:16.760 his journalistic ethics and professionalism. 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:18.280 Morris said. 0:16:18.720 --> 0:16:21.080 He accused Sean Parnell of acting. 0:16:20.840 --> 0:16:25.880 As unofficial press correspondent for the senior bureaucracy at Queensland 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:27.600 Health and of. 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:30.840 Failing to consult others at the dinner to ascertain what 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:31.760 it was all about. 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:33.880 At his media. 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:38.520 Conference, Morris and The Australian's Queensland Bureau chief, my friend 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:43.040 sid Ma slugged it out. Ma, a staunch and loyal 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:45.600 defender of his colleague, was not going to stand by 0:16:45.840 --> 0:16:50.240 in silence as Tony Morris continued the tirade. When sid 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:54.120 mar started asking Morris tough questions, the lawyer Cross examined 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:56.520 Sid on Parnell's actions and ethics. 0:16:57.200 --> 0:16:58.280 It was pure theater. 0:16:59.480 --> 0:17:03.120 I'm under no illusion that Sean Parnell is being used 0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:07.640 by senior bureaucrats in Queensland Health to disseminate stories like this. 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:12.359 Beattie and his staff worked to fan the flames. It 0:17:12.480 --> 0:17:15.920 was the first sign of dissent between the Premier and Morris, 0:17:16.080 --> 0:17:20.199 who had not attended the infamous dinner. The Crime and 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:24.199 Misconduct Commission decided to leave it well alone. One of 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:28.240 their staff had been among the dinner party. Beryl Crosby 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:31.359 reckoned the awards were a harmless hoot. She knew we 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:34.320 were letting our hair down, and she appreciated how hard 0:17:34.359 --> 0:17:38.480 the media had worked. She embarrassed Bettie by revealing that 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:41.240 she had been trying to have him visit Bunderberg to 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:45.160 address the victims for weeks. Yet it was the opportunity 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:48.240 to shoot the messengers which finally brought him to the town. 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:52.920 On hearing of her award, Beryl had just one request. 0:17:53.440 --> 0:17:55.800 She asked, can I have the ash straight. 0:17:56.640 --> 0:18:00.360 Public opinion was not with Peter Beatty. Most people saw 0:18:00.440 --> 0:18:03.639 through the mock indignation. He let it go after a 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:04.800 couple of days. 0:18:05.560 --> 0:18:09.000 I don't want to pursue the matter anymore. I've made 0:18:09.080 --> 0:18:09.919 my point about it. 0:18:10.920 --> 0:18:16.040 The stoush between Marris and Sean Parnell was inevitable. Conflict 0:18:16.080 --> 0:18:20.479 had been simmering for weeks. Parnell had enjoyed a close 0:18:20.560 --> 0:18:25.440 working relationship with health chiefs over several years. He'd angered 0:18:25.440 --> 0:18:29.280 Marris by wrongly reporting that Patel was within error rates 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:32.919 and that none of the discipline reaction previously taken in 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:36.240 the US would have prevented him doing procedures for which 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:40.240 he was being investigated in Australia. After one of his 0:18:40.359 --> 0:18:43.480 reports stated that Patel was linked to, as Sean put it, 0:18:43.960 --> 0:18:48.600 only eight deaths, Marris sarcastically mused whether a century ago 0:18:48.720 --> 0:18:50.120 Pannell might have written. 0:18:50.400 --> 0:18:53.200 Jack the Ripper linked with only eight deaths. 0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:58.440 Twelve days after the infamous Awards night, Tony Morris wrote 0:18:58.440 --> 0:19:02.400 to Buckland and pointedly condemned what he described as. 0:19:02.720 --> 0:19:08.280 A concerted campaign of disinformation being orchestrated from within Queensland Health, 0:19:08.600 --> 0:19:12.840 apparently designed to discredit and derailed this Commission of Inquiry 0:19:13.440 --> 0:19:17.960 characterized by the strategic leaking of information to Sean Parnell 0:19:18.240 --> 0:19:19.040 of The Australian. 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:24.800 But in most respects Parnell's reporting was courageous. He went 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:28.879 against popular opinion to expose serious chinks in the armor 0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:33.400 of the inquiry chief. He pulled no punches in criticizing Morris, 0:19:33.400 --> 0:19:36.520 who was obsessed with the media. The more that his 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:41.399 unorthodox handling of the inquiry was highlighted, the more tony 0:19:41.440 --> 0:19:46.280 Morris reacted, in my view, in his zeal to please everyone, 0:19:46.480 --> 0:19:51.639 he had jeopardized the inquiry. Meanwhile, doctor Buckland and doctor 0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:56.480 Scott were doomed. The organization they led was in disarray. 0:19:57.080 --> 0:20:00.880 They were at loggerheads with their minister Gordon Nutt. They 0:20:00.880 --> 0:20:04.520 had lost Peter Beatty's confidence, and the waiting lists for 0:20:04.640 --> 0:20:08.840 surgery in the public hospitals were growing. In late July, 0:20:09.560 --> 0:20:11.560 Nuttle was sacked as Health Minister. 0:20:12.320 --> 0:20:15.800 Beattie said, Minister Nuttle is of the view and I 0:20:15.840 --> 0:20:18.439 agree with him that we need a fresh start to 0:20:18.520 --> 0:20:22.840 enable health reform so that Queenslanders have confidence that their 0:20:22.840 --> 0:20:25.560 health system is second to none in the world. 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:30.280 Buckland was axed a few days later. The state government's 0:20:30.320 --> 0:20:34.560 top public servant, Leo Kellagher, told Steve Buckland that Beatty 0:20:34.720 --> 0:20:38.160 no longer had confidence in him. He was given no reasons. 0:20:39.280 --> 0:20:41.160 It is with great sadness that I let you know 0:20:41.280 --> 0:20:44.439 I will believing Queensland Health as Director General effective at 0:20:44.480 --> 0:20:45.200 midday to day. 0:20:45.960 --> 0:20:48.720 Buckland told staff on twenty six July. 0:20:49.680 --> 0:20:52.280 I'm incredibly proud of the journey we began eighteen months 0:20:52.280 --> 0:20:53.960 ago to reform public health care. 0:20:55.040 --> 0:20:58.560 Buckland's friend and loyal deputy John Scott was the next 0:20:58.600 --> 0:21:03.080 to go. When the nurse Karen Jenna heard about buckland sacking, 0:21:03.240 --> 0:21:06.720 she recalled his faithful seven April visit to the hospital 0:21:06.960 --> 0:21:09.399 when she asked him why there would be no proper 0:21:09.440 --> 0:21:14.680 investigation into doctor Patel, and she recalled his demeaning answer. 0:21:15.359 --> 0:21:18.760 What part of there's going to be no inquiry? Don't 0:21:18.760 --> 0:21:19.480 you understand? 0:21:20.359 --> 0:21:23.440 Buckland had asked her in the crowded room that day. 0:21:24.280 --> 0:21:28.040 Now the tables were turned. Jenna sent Steve Buckland a 0:21:28.080 --> 0:21:30.840 message on the day he was told to clear out 0:21:30.880 --> 0:21:32.399 his office. 0:21:32.440 --> 0:21:33.399 What part of sacked? 0:21:33.520 --> 0:21:34.560 Don't you understand? 0:21:37.840 --> 0:21:41.120 My mother, Diana, had been troubled by chronic back pain 0:21:41.280 --> 0:21:44.480 for a long time. She was losing weight and looked 0:21:44.560 --> 0:21:48.040 pale and frail. But she soldiered on without fuss and 0:21:48.080 --> 0:21:51.639 looked forward to another overseas jaunt she might afford only 0:21:51.680 --> 0:21:55.040 in her dreams. On the day, the story about the 0:21:55.080 --> 0:21:58.640 awards at the Indian restaurant in Bunderberg gave Beattie an 0:21:58.720 --> 0:22:04.320 opportunity to call for scalps. Mum's underlying illness prompted drastic action. 0:22:05.040 --> 0:22:09.200 It was the first indication of something serious. My older 0:22:09.280 --> 0:22:12.880 sister Peter sent me a text message just before. 0:22:12.560 --> 0:22:16.359 Noon Mummy is going to hospital for a lengthy stay. 0:22:16.640 --> 0:22:19.800 She is not in good shape. Or called with more news. 0:22:20.920 --> 0:22:23.800 Our youngest sister Kate was giving birth to her daughter 0:22:23.920 --> 0:22:26.960 Mia in Sydney that day, and Mum was upset at 0:22:27.040 --> 0:22:30.480 being unable to be there for the arrival of another grandchild, 0:22:30.840 --> 0:22:35.280 her ninth. The kids called her mo, never Granny, and 0:22:35.359 --> 0:22:38.640 if you knew my mother you would understand why she 0:22:38.720 --> 0:22:42.160 saw herself as being more youthful than her own four children. 0:22:42.520 --> 0:22:46.520 In some ways. She was a tall, beautiful and still 0:22:46.560 --> 0:22:50.280 willowy blonde. She carried herself proudly in the latest designer 0:22:50.359 --> 0:22:55.200 ripped denims or an expensive Italian suit. Hospital gowns were 0:22:55.240 --> 0:22:58.680 not for her. In her sixties, she had taken herself 0:22:58.720 --> 0:23:00.960 off to Italy, where she spent a year learning the 0:23:01.040 --> 0:23:05.800 language and immersing herself in village life. She was admitted 0:23:05.840 --> 0:23:08.439 to award on the eighth floor at the Gold Coast 0:23:08.440 --> 0:23:13.119 Hospital after her heart specialist expressed alarm at worsening symptoms. 0:23:13.920 --> 0:23:17.680 Mum was gasping for breath, her pulse raised, her back 0:23:17.760 --> 0:23:22.160 pain had become excruciating. I can't believe that you are 0:23:22.240 --> 0:23:26.679 still walking around, the specialist told her, as Mum rolled 0:23:26.720 --> 0:23:29.480 her eyes at being moved from floor to floor in 0:23:29.520 --> 0:23:33.440 the overcrowded public hospital and gossiped with my younger sister 0:23:33.480 --> 0:23:37.600 Rebecca and leafed through power of Positive Thinking books. The 0:23:37.640 --> 0:23:43.040 doctor's rantesse the elevator carried a notice warning patients and 0:23:43.160 --> 0:23:47.480 visitors that unfair criticism and racist slurs against the hospital's 0:23:47.640 --> 0:23:51.840 overseas trained doctors would not be tolerated. They had been 0:23:51.920 --> 0:23:56.240 copying a hard time since the Petel scandal erupted. The 0:23:56.320 --> 0:24:00.359 doctor's new Mum had stomach ulcers and an internal bleed, 0:24:00.560 --> 0:24:04.040 but there was something else, a tumor. It was on 0:24:04.119 --> 0:24:08.240 her adreamal gland, silently squeezing life from a woman who 0:24:08.320 --> 0:24:23.760 at sixty five still had Grand Plans Chapter sixty five 0:24:24.320 --> 0:24:31.160 on the bench. Early August two thousand and five, Martin moynihan, 0:24:31.560 --> 0:24:35.840 the Supreme Court justice with the unenviable task of determining 0:24:35.880 --> 0:24:41.040 if the Morris Inquiry needed euthanizing, corrective surgery or a 0:24:41.119 --> 0:24:44.000 clean bill of health, dropped a few clues to his 0:24:44.119 --> 0:24:48.960 views during three days of legal argument in Brisbane. If 0:24:49.000 --> 0:24:53.520 Tony Morris were dumped, moynihan mused, the victims of PTEL 0:24:53.640 --> 0:24:56.280 and a sick system might have to go through another 0:24:56.400 --> 0:24:57.800 painful legal process. 0:24:58.800 --> 0:25:01.880 Well, the fact is what happened was devastating for them, 0:25:02.359 --> 0:25:05.080 and to have to repeat it would be even more devastating, 0:25:05.760 --> 0:25:06.320 he said. 0:25:07.000 --> 0:25:10.320 Senior lawyers told me that Martin moynihan would not be 0:25:10.440 --> 0:25:14.360 influenced by the public and political support for Tony Morris. 0:25:14.920 --> 0:25:18.480 The experienced judge looked forward to retirement and had nothing 0:25:18.520 --> 0:25:22.680 to gain or lose from whatever he pronounced. His judgment 0:25:22.760 --> 0:25:27.440 on Morris would be his most momentous. His bushy eyebrows 0:25:27.600 --> 0:25:30.960 arched as he read portions of transcript from the inquiry, 0:25:31.720 --> 0:25:35.280 pressing the advantage for Peter Leck and Darren Keating were 0:25:35.320 --> 0:25:38.440 two of the more experienced Brisbane lawyers that money could 0:25:38.440 --> 0:25:44.480 buy David Jackson QC and Robert Mulholland QC. They characterized 0:25:44.520 --> 0:25:48.600 Morris as a sarcastic and unfair bully who had two 0:25:48.680 --> 0:25:54.399 categories of witnesses, heroes and villains, white hats and black hats. 0:25:56.240 --> 0:25:59.760 Moynihan was taken to two passages from the record of 0:25:59.800 --> 0:26:04.040 the questioning by Morris. The interrogation was likened to a 0:26:04.520 --> 0:26:09.919 laceration in lex case and an ambush in Keatings. Tony 0:26:09.960 --> 0:26:10.920 Morris had. 0:26:10.760 --> 0:26:15.080 Said doctor Meek was a doctor who actually deals with patients, 0:26:15.160 --> 0:26:17.879 not a bureaucrat. Would it be a good start to 0:26:17.960 --> 0:26:21.000 have hospitals run by doctors who are real doctors? 0:26:22.400 --> 0:26:25.360 More in a hand commented, Well, they're not questions, really 0:26:25.400 --> 0:26:29.080