Editorial: DNA debacle another test for new minister 

The new Health Minister has a lot of mess to clean up in her portfolio but navigating a pathway out of this disaster may well prove the ultimate test, writes the editor.

The ramifications of the DNA debacle at our state-run forensic laboratory appear to be far worse than we first thought.

A commission of inquiry, headed by Walter Sofronoff, has already delivered the verdict that DNA tests connected with criminal matters need to be redone.

Today, in a story in The Courier Mail by James Hall, we learn the number to be retested – 30,000.

There are estimates that this process could take 12 years at current staffing levels.

Backlogs in our crowded courts will grow longer, wrongful conviction claims are set to soar and public faith in the state’s scientific credibility in criminal justice matters will take years to restore.

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/Courier Mail

As lawyer Bill Potts says, this is not merely a matter of cleaning up an enormous problem in the labs.

Staff also have to deal with the current workload while maintaining the highest possible standards.

At face value, the task ahead appears to border on the impossible.

Queensland Health says work to reform DNA and forensic services is progressing well. The department’s stated aim is to not only restore confidence in our forensic DNA services, “but to make them among the best in the world”.

Newly appointed Health Minister Shannon Fentiman has a lot of mess to clean up in her portfolio. But navigating a pathway out of this disaster may well prove the ultimate test of the minister’s mettle.