Four victims of State Government errors, bungles, cover-ups and failures speak out

VICTIMS of cancer treatment and screening bungles, a mother who lost her life at the hands of an abusive partner, and the grandmother of little Chloe Valentine — they’ve all been desperately failed by the system. Now, in their own words, they demand answers and action.

Failed by the system ... Natasha Palmer, Belinda Valentine, Bridget Wyatt and Andrew Knox. Picture Roger Wyman

• ANDREW KNOX: Cover-up, deception and disobedience
• BRIDGET WYATT: For a year, BreastScreen SA told me I didn’t have cancer
• NATASHA PALMER: Domestic violence — and a failed system - killed my mum
• BELINDA VALENTINE: This Government is protecting an entire toxic culture

FOUR South Australians failed by the State Government’s mistakes have challenged Premier Jay Weatherill to stop the cover-ups, end the deception, accept responsibility and show leadership.

Andrew Knox, Natasha Palmer, Bridget Wyatt and Belinda Valentine have united in a call for reform.

They want to personally discuss the urgent need for government change with Mr Weatherill, saying he and his top ministers have shown little compassion for the victims of their errors, demeaned the public and failed in their duty to the electorate.

“Our individual circumstances are different but they don’t matter because we’ve all endured the same tragedy, the same anguish and the same unacceptable treatment,” Mr Knox said.

“The system in this state is not corrupt, it’s corrupted by error, by inaction, by ignorance and by contradiction.

“It’s not just the mistakes, it’s how they treat people afterwards ... it would be so simple for them to accept responsibility, instead they demean us.”

Andrew Knox’s chemo treatment was halved - which was then covered up. Picture: Roger Wyman

Ms Valentine said the state needed “leaders who have emotion, who stand up for people in traumatic situations, who feel for the victims”.

“The Premier said, in the lead-up to the election campaign, that he was going to send a message to Canberra — I’d like to see him be as quick to send a message to us,” she said.

“I want to be able to trust our government, to hear them admit mistakes have been made, to hear them tell us why ... I would like to see a government of heroes.”

Belinda Valentine, the grandmother of Chloe Valentine, who died after criminal neglect by her mother and her mother’s partner. The Coroner blasted Families SA over its actions in the case. Picture: Roger Wyman

Mr Knox, Ms Palmer, Ms Wyatt and Ms Valentine have become the faces of government error and inaction during the past six years.

Given an incorrect dose of chemotherapy in 2014, Mr Knox has called for a royal commission. “It is now apparent that the Government, at all levels, appears willing to demean our intelligence, rendering any apology hollow, rather than deal with the reality it has lost control,” he told The Advertiser. Last week, he sought a meeting with Mr Weatherill and was told it would happen sometime this week. Yesterday, after the Premier’s office was made aware of The Advertiser’s story, a meeting was arranged for next week.

Mr Weatherill said “I agree that mistakes can happen and it’s how governments respond that really matters. In these cases, these individuals have been let down and have every right to feel aggrieved”.

Bridget Wyatt was given the all-clear by a BreastScreen SA screening, only to discover a year later she actually had cancer the whole time. Picture: Roger Wyman

Ms Wyatt’s BreastScreenSA mammogram, in 2011, was one of 72 botched screenings. Two patients subsequently died from detectable cancers.

She survived but, denied compensation, wants to speak to Mr Weatherill.

“I feel I need to have my say and, if nothing else comes of this, it will make others aware and hopefully have the strength to tell their story,” she said. “There are probably many other women who are in a much worse situation than me and they deserve justice ... the Government gave a half-hearted apology.”

Ms Palmer’s mother, Graziella Dallier, was murdered in 2014 by her ex-partner, Dion Muir, who was repeatedly allowed to harass her despite being subject to an intervention order.

Natasha Palmer’s mother Graziella Dallier was murdered by her ex-partner despite an arrest and intervention order. Picture Roger Wyman

She said her family wanted a coronial inquest to investigate how Muir, who later took his own life, could “torment” Ms Dallier.

“There is a need for a more proactive approach to be taken by government, police, judicial system and the community at large to create change,” she said.

Ms Valentine’s granddaughter, Chloe, died in 2012 after years of neglect, which Families SA failed to prevent despite knowing her mother, Ashlee Polkinghorne, was a drug user.

“How can we affect change when the leaders of these agencies either belong to this toxic culture or, at the very least, condone it by inaction?” Ms Valentine said.

Mr Weatherill said: “I have spoken to Belinda in the past, and I look forward to updating her on the progress of the royal commission into child protection”.

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