“Health Minister Treats Nurses With Contempt”
“The personal attack by Associate Health Minister Damien O’Connor on Nurses Organisation advocate Laila Harre treats
nurses with contempt,” said Mr Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, today.
Mr Powell was responding to Mr O’Conner’s comments at the Nurses Organisation conference.
“Mr O’Connor’s patronising attack implies that nurses are mere pawns who can’t think for themselves. This paternalism
devalues nurses and their invaluable role in maintaining high quality health services and standards of patient care.”
“Mr O’Connor’s outburst suggests the government lives in a world of self-deception falsely believing that attacking an
individual will somehow resolve an industrial negotiation instead of addressing the real issue of achieving a fair pay
settlement for nurses and resolving our serious nurse shortages.”
“Mr O’Connor’s ‘foot-in-mouth’ personal attack is likely to make the nurses industrial negotiations acrimonious and more
difficult to resolve,” concluded Mr Powell.