Fed: Beazley loses health momentum over story bungle

AAP General News (Australia)
08-22-2001
Fed: Beazley loses health momentum over story bungle

By James Grubel, Chief Political Correspondent

CANBERRA, Aug 22 AAP - Opposition Leader Kim Beazley has suffered short-term political
damage over his attempt to use a personal experience to attack the government over public
health.

But Mr Beazley can take heart from the fact the blunder happened well before what is
shaping up as a bitter election campaign.

For the past three weeks, Mr Beazley had been desperate to turn the national debate
away from tax and GST rollback and onto his preferred topics of health and education.

On Monday and Tuesday this week, he appeared to have succeeded.

He successfully attacked the government over spending on public hospitals and radiation
treatment for those suffering cancer.

But the good work from early in the week unravelled when Mr Beazley told his MPs and
senators about the experience of his daughter Hannah when she went to a Perth hospital
suffering appendicitis.

According to the official caucus briefing, Mr Beazley said his daughter had been turned
away from the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital casualty section due to delays and a lack
of beds.

But Mr Beazley was forced to correct the story today.

He said his daughter was examined at the hospital, but chose to leave to have her appendix
removed at a private hospital because she did not want to wait any longer for her operation.

He was adamant he never suggested his daughter had been turned away from hospital because
of a lack of beds.

And he denied he was bringing his daughter into public debate, saying his comments
were only meant for his MPs and senators, not for the national media.

He said reporters had been led astray by the official Labor caucus briefing, which
he today described as a mis-briefing.

Mr Beazley's credibility has been undermined by the fact he allowed the media to run
with a story which ended up to be partly untrue.

He has also damaged the credibility of information given to reporters at the official
caucus meetings.

But he is confident the true story of his daughter's treatment will hit home to millions
of voters who have experienced similar long delays in public hospitals.

In the meantime, Mr Beazley can instill more discipline on the way his comments are
relayed to reporters at official caucus briefings.

AAP jg/daw/vr/br

KEYWORD: HOSPITALS ANALYSIS

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