President of independent nurses’ union wants industrial relations chief to step off her case

A nurse’s union president has called for the state’s Industrial Relations Commission chief to step aside from her case after he was referred to in a parliamentary debate, writes Des Houghton.

Queensland Chief Justice Helen Bowskill has been asked by an appellant to consider whether the President of the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission, Peter Davis, should abstain from sitting on her case.

The request came after a submission by Justice Davis, who has the status of a Supreme Court judge, was referred to in parliament during an October debate over a bill that would block independent unions from representing members at the Commission.

Margaret Gilbert, president of independent Nurses’ Professional Association of Queensland, wrote to Bowskill this week and told her she had not received a response to a letter she wrote to Davis in October suggesting he recuse himself from an appeal involving her.

The appeal was heard in November 2021 but a judgment has yet to be handed down.

In the letter, Gilbert repeated her request that Davis “recuse” himself, or step aside.

Margaret Gilbert. File picture

“I respectfully request that you make an inquiry with the Industrial Court about what is happening with my case,” Gilbert wrote. “Both myself and my members still feel it appropriate in the circumstances that Justice Davis to recuse himself and a new judge be appointed promptly.”

During the October debate, Labor members including Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace praised Davis’s submission in parliament, while the Opposition criticised him. Several Opposition members led by shadow Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie said Labor changed the industrial relations laws to block independent unions like Gilbert’s from appearing at the QIRC.

The changes strengthened the Labor-aligned unions that fund the Labor Party and made it difficult for independent or “rogue” unions to represent their members.

In her letter to Davis, Gilbert said the laws were “designed to outlaw my union”.

She added: “As part of the debate (in parliament) a number of members of the government referred to my union as a ‘rogue union’ and made other derogatory references to it.

“They also quoted your submission to the Parliamentary Committee in your position as President of the IRC, as some justification for some aspects of the Bill.

“There is a real danger that that will be perceived by some to have engaged you and your position in the contentious political debate.”

Gilbert also raised Davis’s earlier links with the ALP and revelations in parliament of Davis’s role in the campaigning for the ALP’s Peter Russo, a fellow lawyer, in the seat of Toohey at the last election before he was made a judge.

In his maiden speech Russo, thanked Davis and his wife Belinda for organising a function and “for making sure that my volunteers on election day were fed and watered.”

In her letter to Davis Gilbert added: “Some of my members are now faced with the knowledge that you are personally connected to a member of the government that has embarked upon a vitriolic campaign against my union and have used your name and your position as support for the legislation that is attempting to outlaw, as much as possible, my union.”

“We are not making an allegation that you are biased against us, but we are concerned our members may feel that is the case.”

Gilbert told Davis she realised he had been “placed in an invidious position” and would be “more than happy to have another judge deliver the decision.”

There was uproar in parliament when it was revealed Davis made a submission asking parliament to consider the existing sections of the Industrial Relations Act concerning the representation of parties.

But the Davis submission remains cloaked in secrecy with many paragraphs blacked out in the version tabled in the House for public viewing. This rendered parts of it nonsensical in my view.

Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace told parliament Davis warned in his submission that “unscrupulous agents” charged fees but “simply did not have the skill” to represent parties in his court. She did not elaborate.

Kim Richards, the Member for Redlands, said the NPAQ was misleading its members “because they cannot perform the services they say they can do”. Richards went much further, naming Davis and adding: “During our inquiry he provided us with some correspondence.

He outlined his concerns with regards to unscrupulous agents who are charging fees to provide representation in the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission.” She did not elaborate.

Member for Bundamba Lance McCallum told the House the new laws would allow the Queensland Industrial Court to block “unscrupulous agents” from appearing before it.

Member for Southern Downs James Lister told parliament said the new laws were “a wicked, scrofulous piece of legislation”.

“It seems to me that this whole system is rotten,” he said.

“It is the most naked example yet of the Labor Party having given up on ordinary Queenslanders and now feathering the nests of their paymasters in the union movement.

“This is a disgraceful vindication of everything we have always known about the Labor Party, and that is that they are beholden to the trade union movement.’’

WHISTLEBLOWER IN LIMBO OVER COMMISSION APPEAL

Nurses’ Professional Association of Queensland president Margaret Gilbert. File picture

Margaret Gilbert is a nurse with 42 years of exemplary service. She was threatened with the sack for exposing flaws in the training of student nurses in a report in the Sunday Mail three years ago.

Queensland Health said she didn’t have the right to speak publicly. She said she was speaking as president of the Nurses’ Professional Association of Queensland.

In a heavy-handed “show cause” notice from Metro North Hospital Services, Gilbert was told that she breached media regulations by making comments about the dropping standards of bachelor nursing degrees and the decline of practical skills in student nurses. She was given a gag order and told she faced disciplinary action and could lose her job, be demoted, reprimanded, redeployed or suffer a monetary penalty.

Gilbert told reporter Jackie Sinnerton that student nurses nearing the end of their training were unable to perform basic tasks such as calculating medication doses, set up IVs or take blood pressure, leaving them flailing in high-pressure hospital wards.

The story caused uproar inside Queensland Health, as an Industrial Court email trail later showed.

Queensland Health alleged Gilbert did cause or could have caused the public to lose confidence in the nursing capability at the Prince Charles Hospital where she was a duty nurse manager.

Gilbert believed her freedom of speech had been trampled.

In the Commission, the NPAQ claimed the media gag order and the threat of disciplinary action on Ms Gilbert was a breach of human rights. In a complex case the Commission found the NPAQ was not a union.

The NPAQ has appealed on 18 grounds. The case is ongoing, and Gilbert remains in limbo.

DES HOUGHTON IS A MEDIA CONSULTANTIAND HAS PREVIOUSLY WORKED AS A MEDIA ADVISOR TO THE NPAQ