Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital name change vote rorted
Health Minister Steven Miles knew weeks ago that the same IP addresses were being used to vote hundreds of times in an online public survey regarding the renaming of Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital, The Courier-Mail can reveal.
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HEALTH Minister Steven Miles knew weeks ago that the same IP addresses were being used to vote hundreds of times in an online public survey regarding the renaming of Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital, The Courier-Mail can reveal.
A spokeswoman for the minister last night confirmed that Mr Miles was aware of the issue before polling finished, but claimed there was no problem because some IP addresses had multiple users.
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Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital name change survey ‘rigged’
It comes after reports yesterday that 75 votes came from an IP address from Health Minister Steven Miles’s office.
“The GetInvolved website is the same survey site used by successive governments since 2004,” the spokeswoman said. “It was used in this case to complement other sources of information including a petition with 900 signatures.”
A well-placed source told The Courier-Mail that Mr Miles’s office was made aware that the online poll was susceptible to being rorted, but nothing had been done.
The Cilento family is calling for a review into the name change to Queensland Children’s Hospital.
Lady Cilento’s granddaughter Giovanna Cilento told The Courier-Mail yesterday that she was dumbfounded by the “lies” told by the Government.
“The last time I looked, we lived in a democracy and the only people who don’t understand that are Palaszczuk and Miles,” she said. “The lies are breathtaking … we don’t want the legacy of our grandmother trashed and used as a political football.”
The name Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital has been registered as a business name and held in trust for the people of Queensland.
The Nurses Professional Association of Queensland said it decided to register the name following backlash from members over the name change.
NPAQ assistant secretary Jack McGuire said registering the name meant it could not be “hijacked” and “should the Minister decide to reuse the name, we will provide it back free of charge”.
More than 85 per cent of NPAQ members polled wanted the hospital name to remain unchanged.
“There was an overwhelming vote for the name of Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital to stay and for the money that it would cost the Government to rebrand be used for resources instead,” he said.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk yesterday stood by her health minister, saying he would not be sacked.
“The naming of the Queensland Children’s Hospital will mean that we will be able to attract international funding for the state’s premiere hospital,” she said. “Cabinet took into (account) a range of considerations, including community consultation, including what the doctors thought about the name change.”
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