Toddler dies in agony after public hospital negligence

The Queensland government has ordered a review into the death of a three-year-old boy who was allegedly left untreated for 30 hours at a regional hospital. Nationals MP Vaughan Johnson told state parliament today Ryan Saunders was rushed by helicopter from Emerald hospital to Rockhampton hospital "where he lay screaming in agony for over 24 hours with his distraught, traumatised and helpless parents by his side".

Mr Johnson said Ryan was suffering stomach pains and was taken to Emerald hospital by his parents on October 25. He was later transferred to Rockhampton following fears he may have a twisted bowel. Mr Johnson said Ryan was ignored by doctors for more than 24 hours at Rockhampton hospital and died the next day. "They virtually did nothing with him for about 30 hours ... This is just totally unacceptable," Mr Johnson said. The MP called for an investigation into the incident.

Queensland Health Minister Stephen Robertson said the case had been forwarded to the coroner and an independent review would also be carried out. "Central Queensland Health Service District will also be commissioning a root cause analysis to look at the care provided and identify if there are any issues that need to be addressed to improve the care that was provided," Mr Robertson told state parliament. "This analysis will be provided by an expert team external to Central Queensland Health Service District." Mr Robertson said it would be inappropriate to discuss the details of the case but acknowledged "the tragedy that did befall that family".

He said health officials had already met with Ryan's parents and would meet with them again on Friday. "At these meetings, the family will be provided with all available information in relation to the care provided," he said. The minister said the findings and recommendations of the independent review would be made available to the family.

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Australian wages soaring



AUSTRALIAN pay packets swelled almost 5 per cent over the year to August, with the average wage now $57,324, but male earnings are still way ahead of female wages. Average weekly ordinary time earnings (AWOTE) for adult full-time employees rose 1.0 per cent in the three months to August for an annual rate of 4.9 per cent, seasonally adjusted, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported today. Private-sector average wages soared 1.3 per cent in the quarter to $1,077.80, seasonally adjusted, reflecting a whopping annual jump of 5.8 per cent.

The strong growth in private-sector wages reflects a booming economy. Employers are having to pay employees more and more as a national skills shortage raise the price of labour. Strong growth in the mining, finance and other service sectors is driving much of the growth. In contrast to strong private-sector gains, public-sector average wages were up just 0.1 per cent over the quarter to $1192.20, seasonally adjusted, for an annual rise of 2.3 per cent.

Full-time adult ordinary time earnings rose by 5.2 per cent for males to $1 172.20 while female wages grew 4.8 per cent to $980.70 in trend terms. But in annual terms, men are earning much more than woman, with the average male wage rising to $60,954, while the average female wage is $50,996. This reflects the different nature of male employment, with males tending to hold more senior role, but also reflects much of the work that female do is poorly paid, according to unions.

While a dump-truck driver working in a mine can expect to be paid between $70,000 to $100,000, the reality is that earnings for largely female child-care workers and those who look after the elderly are struggling to rise over $40,000 a year.

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Bureaucratic madness in South Australian "Child welfare" agency

Welfare for bureaucrats would be more like it

The number of bureaucrats earning $100,000-plus in the department that helps the state's most vulnerable people has almost doubled in the past year. The figures have led to claims the Families and Communities Department is building a bureaucracy of "fat cats" rather than helping children and the needy.

The Government questions the figures, revealed in the Auditor-General's report, arguing it was based on staff being moved from a statutory authority. It comes after The Advertiser revealed examples of taxpayers paying out large sums for crisis care. They included:

A SEVEN year old boy costing $500,000 for a rented home and team of full-time private nannies.

A FAMILY of five children under the age of 11 who have been in care for over a year at a cost of more than $1 million.

The Auditor General's report shows staff on $100,000-plus salaries have jumped from from 68 to 129 in the past year, with the most highly paid on more than $320,000. The report found 27 people were on salaries of $150,000 or more, up from 17. The total cost of staff on $100,000-plus salaries has skyrocketed from $9.1 million to $16.7 million.

Opposition Leader Martin Hamilton-Smith believes the money could have been better spent. "The effort needs to be put into getting experienced social workers into families homes to help with their difficulties and identify (those) at risk," he said. "So I think the whole structure needs to be less top heavy, with more workers in the field."

The report also identified an additional $35 million was injected into the department in January to cover cash shortfalls. Treasurer Kevin Foley approved the move after Families and Communities Minister Jay Weatherill advised of "significant cost pressures within Families SA and Disability SA". "It signals problems in the ability to plan and budget their child protection operations and it lines up with this blowout in fat cats," Mr Hamilton-Smith said.

Mr Weatherill said the figures were "simply untrue" and only five extra employees were earning more than $100,000 in 2006-07. "The overwhelming majority of the apparent increase is because disability reform has meant some people who were counted as working for a statutory authority are now working for the department," he said. "Or because employees previously earning less than $100,000 have received standard enterprise bargaining rises.

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Another bent cop with a bad memory



Police union chief Paul Mullett has admitted warning a detective his telephone was being tapped, but denied knowing the officer was under investigation over links to a gangland murder. During a five-hour grilling by the Office of Police Integrity into top-level leaks in the Victoria Police, Mr Mullett insisted he believed the taps were part of an investigation into factional politics within the union, unconnected to the murder inquiry. Appearing anxious and wary in the witness box, the police union boss regularly responded "I can't recall" when questioned over his knowledge of internal leaks and telephone intercepts.

At the outset of yesterday's hearing, Mr Mullett changed evidence he gave to an earlier secret hearing, admitting to having given six incorrect answers. And he counter-attacked, accusing Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon of supporting a campaign by his factional rivals to have him forced out as Police Association secretary.

Mr Mullett said he frequently received leaks of sensitive information from disgraced assistant commissioner Noel Ashby, who resigned last Friday, describing him as "a good source". He said confidential information was regularly traded within Victoria Police, despite this being improper and potentially putting lives in danger.

Mr Mullett admitted staging supposedly innocent telephone conversations with Mr Ashby and the target of the murder inquiry, Detective Sergeant Peter Lalor, in a bid to throw investigators off the track after discovering they were being tapped. Mr Mullett denied warning Sergeant Lalor he was being investigated by Operation Briars, the taskforce on the 2003 underworld murder of a male prostitute Shane Chartres-Abbott. Asked by counsel assisting the OPI, Greg Lyon SC, if he told Sergeant Lalor he was the subject of the investigation, Mr Mullett said "no", adding he was offended at the suggestion.

The hearing has been told that information about Operation Briars was leaked by Victoria Police media director Stephen Linnell to Mr Ashby and then to Mr Mullett, who allegedly passed it to the police union president, Inspector Brian Rix. The hearing was told that after Inspector Rix allegedly passed the warning on to Sergeant Lalor in August, calls between Sergeant Lalor and an ex-detective also under investigation by Operation Briars, John "Docket" Waters, suddenly stopped. Sergeant Lalor, who is a union delegate, is alleged to have given Chartres-Abbott's address to an underworld hitman, and to have provided an alibi for the man on the day of the murder.

Mr Mullett agreed he passed on information to Inspector Rix that Sergeant Lalor's phone might be tapped. But he insisted he believed the taps were in relation to an investigation into the so-called "Kit Walker" affair - a probe into anonymous emails allegedly sent around the force by Sergeant Lalor as part of a factional battle for control of the association.

During secret OPI hearings last month, Mr Mullett said he could not a recall a meeting with Sergeant Lalor at the offices of the Police Association, but he said yesterday he had "refreshed his memory" and now recalled that the meeting took place. He changed five other parts of his testimony, saying his memory had been refreshed by reading transcripts of the evidence given at last week's OPI hearings by Mr Linnell, who resigned on Monday, and Mr Ashby. Mr Mullett admitted talking to Mr Ashby about his appearance at the secret OPI hearing after giving evidence last month that he did not. It is illegal to discuss the private hearings of the OPI.

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