Labor wants protection for workers speaking out during outbreak inquiry

An Opposition Health spokeswoman said the state government needed to ensure its staff feel safe to speak up as submissions to review near. LATEST >>

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PUBLIC servants who give evidence to the state government’s inquiry into the COVID-19 outbreak on the North-West Coast should be protected from repercussions, Labor says.

Opposition Health spokeswoman Sarah Lovell said the state government needed to ensure its staff feel safe to speak up.

Shadow Minister for Health Sarah Lovell. Picture: Zak Simmonds

The government has established an independent review into the outbreak, headed by barrister Greg Melick. The final report is due in October.

“This is a small community, and people do know each other well, and people do know the jobs that each person does in the hospital system,” Ms Lovell said.

“We need people to be able to speak fearlessly, to be frank and open so that we can use this opportunity to learn from what happened without having any fear that there’ll be any kind of repercussion taken against them for speaking openly.

Ms Lovell said Labor would be making a submission of its own to the inquiry.

Submissions to the review close on Friday.

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