Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority
Ms CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (13:47): My question is again to the Minister for Emergency Services. Minister, another three deaths we know of were reported last Monday following delays with 000. Minister, how many more Victorians have died as a result of these failures that have occurred under your watch?
Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (13:48): Ms Crozier, we continue to have this conversation in relation to tragic outcomes that have impacted families in our state that have sought to rely on our health system, and for you to continually attribute the cause of death to ESTA call takers continues to be inappropriate.
Ms Crozier: On a point of order, President, the minister knows what she has just said is completely incorrect. Would you like me to re-read the question? I never reflected on the ESTA workers; I was talking about the policy failures of the government. I would ask you to ask the minister to clarify that—that there was no reflection on the ESTA workers, that it was government policy failures.
The PRESIDENT: The minister had just started.
Ms SYMES: Thank you, President. As I have said in this house on numerous occasions, I do of course offer my sincere condolences to anybody who has lost somebody. In the cases that we refer to, when you are in an emergency situation and you lose someone, it is usually unexpected. It is horrible, and these cases are devastating. I do acknowledge that any delay is of course unacceptable. There are established processes to review any case that involves a death that was related to or involved ESTA or Ambulance Victoria. But I again would stress that it is only the coroner that can assign the cause of death, not members of this chamber.
Ms CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (13:49): There are far too many Victorians that have died as a result of 000. Former police commissioner Graham Ashton has undertaken a report into the failures of ESTA, reviewing the problems in relation to these very, very tragic circumstances. I know the minister is very defensive about the failures that have occurred. We will continue to have this conversation because it is important and I think Victorians deserve to understand exactly what has gone on. Why does the government continue to hide the facts from Victorians about the catastrophic failures when so many Victorians have tragically died and refuse to release that report publicly to Victorians?
Ms SYMES (Northern Victoria—Leader of the Government, Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (13:50): There is so much wrong in that question, Ms Crozier. First of all, you continue to say that people have died as a result of 000. That is an inappropriate comment that you continue to repeat. You have also said that I will not be releasing the Graham Ashton report. I am on the public record that there are appropriate processes that are undertaken in government—report is received, consider report, government response, report will be released by the middle of the year—in a transparent way.