January 21, 2016
The race for South Burnett mayor has heated up with candidate Mike Brown announcing on Thursday that he will file a formal complaint against fellow candidate Damien Tessmann.
Mr Brown, a director of Rural Medical Centres Limited, claims Cr Tessmann defamed him during a special Council meeting called to determine the fate of the South Burnett Private Hospital.
In May 2015, Mr Brown’s company submitted a proposal to run a day surgery and health hub in the Private Hospital building, which is owned by Council.
Mr Brown alleged Cr Tessmann had used his platform as a Councillor to criticise him and his proposal.
“The proposal I sent was not going to cost the ratepayers $250,000 to investigate,” he said.
“It was created in May 2015 in 24 hours at the request of Mr Phil Harding, the Economic Development Manager of the South Burnett Council, in response to Pulse Health announcing their closure.
“It outlined everything that Council will now spend $150,000 and more months investigating except that I had local health partnerships lined up to offer more allied and mental health services to the community and I had preliminary discussions with Pulse Health CEO Phillipa Blakey about running a health hub option to keep visiting specialists, which they were keen to pursue until Mayor Kratzmann and Council decided that the hospital needed to stay at all costs and all communication with me ceased.
“I call on the Deputy Premier Jackie Trad MP and ask for the support of State Member for Cairns Rob Pyne MP to independently investigate the South Burnett Regional Council because due process was not followed in relation to the hospital matter.”
Mr Brown called for an investigation of all SBRC Councillors, CEO Gary Wall and Economic Development Manager Phil Harding because ratepayers were clearly saying to many people – and in surveys conducted by media outlets – that they do not want Council to run a private facility because is not core Council business.
He said that in May 2015:
- Council and Pulse Health CEO Phillipa Blakey told him he would be moved into the main building on the hospital grounds
- Council said they wouldn’t spend a cent on the building, which is in dire need of repair
- He offered to maintain the visiting specialists while being in the building;
- He offered to work with Ms Blakey to maintain the visiting specialists;
- He was requested at short notice to offer what else he could do to assist;
- Mr Harding told him that Council knew the hospital was “dead in the water” prior to hospital closure.
“From May 2015 to now we were not given due process and have now been attacked for putting forth a solution that would have been at no cost to ratepayers,” Mr Brown said.
He questioned why Rural Medical Centres Limited’s proposal was the only one that was “publicly attacked in Council by Cr Tessmann despite the many entities and operators the Mayor allegedly spoke to in order find someone to run the hospital”.
“I can only think that it is because I am standing as a Mayoral Candidate that he misused his position as a Councillor and as a Mayoral Candidate himself to attack and defame me,” he said.
Mr Brown also claimed Cr Tessmann had previously commended his proposal in writing.
Turning to State Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington, Mr Brown queried why she had signed Mayor Wayne Kratzmann’s #saveourhospital petition.
“Over three years ago we approached Ms Frecklington for any assistance to re-open the closed Glendon St Medical Centre in Kingaroy,” Mr Brown said.
“We were told that she could not assist us due to it being private enterprise, yet she sat in support of the private hospital which could ultimately delay the upgrade of the Kingaroy General Hospital.
“Over 800 local people signed our change.org petition in support of the Kingaroy General Hospital upgrade, yet Ms Frecklington ignored this and started her own and also failed to get the upgrade to the hospital when she was in power and it was on the top of the list for upgrade.
“The people of the South Burnett deserve good private and public health options and instead we have indecision and unnecessary spending on both fronts while the ratepayers suffer and get subjected to even more non-core costs.”
- Download the Rural Medical Centres proposal (346kb PDF)
