Senator Gerard P Craughwell - speech from 17 Jul 2020

Leader, the State's Claims Agency has not exactly covered itself or crowned itself in glory in recent years when citizens of this state find themselves in a situation where they have to take legal action against a government department. I can understand the role of the State's Agency in protecting the resources of the state and ensuring that every claim is taken to its absolute maximum. However, I cannot understand how it is that the State's Claims Agency and government departments are allowed to ignore the orders of the Supreme Court of this land. We currently have a case going on, and I'm not talking about the merits or demerits of the case, that's a matter for the judiciary, but there is a case going on against the Air Corps on chemicals by one individual, a former member of the Air Corps. The outcome of that case will have major implications for other people who served in the Air Corps in this country and were subjected or were working with the chemicals involved. The Supreme Court has ordered discovery of documents, and that discovery has not been met. The excuse, I understand, being used at the moment is COVID-19, but the order was a year ago, before there was ever a COVID-19 or anything like it. Now, we have seen how the State's Claims Agency have put innocent people, people who are struggling with their health, through the ringer. What is it? Are they hoping they'll die before any action will take place? Are they hoping that witnesses will die? This is outrageous, so it is, and it falls to this House not to get involved in what goes on down in the forecourts, but to make damn sure that those who work for the State comply with the orders of the courts at the very, very least. That's not a lot to ask, and I think whoever is responsible for the State's Claims Agency should be brought to this House to explain why it is that they can do what they're doing. We've seen what happened in cervical cancer and various other areas. It's bloody well outrageous.