The head of the Australian Medical Association says he is surprised the Queensland Government has chosen to sack its Assistant Health Minister Dr Chris Davis.
Premier Campbell Newman dismissed Dr Davis yesterday for criticising State Government policies.
Mr Newman says Dr Davis breached Cabinet solidarity by speaking out against changes to the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) and new contracts for doctors.
Dr Davis is a former president of the Australian Medical Association of Queensland (AMAQ) and a first-term Liberal National Party MP for the Brisbane seat of Stafford.
He first clashed with his own party over contracts for senior doctors, but in the past few weeks he has also publicly questioned proposed changes to CMC.
Dr Davis commissioned a poll of his electorate and threatened to cross the floor and vote against the legislation.
He ultimately did not cross the floor, saying he was happy with amendments put forward by Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie.
But yesterday Mr Newman said Dr Davis’s position was “untenable”.
Dr Davis said he had paid the price for speaking out, and that was the reality.
AMA president Dr Steve Hambleton says he is surprised the Newman Government chose to sack Dr Davis.
Dr Hambleton says Dr Davis has paid the price for standing up for what he believes in.
“It’s a dual loss – it’s a loss for doctors for missing a person they have high respect for in a senior position in Government, and Government has to make its own decision about how it uses its expertise that it has in its ranks,” he said.
“The AMA absolutely supports doctors going into politics because the more doctors get in there, the more informed politicians can be to help them make better decisions.
“Chris Davis certainly worked hard to try to put the doctors dispute back together and to actually be conduit between doctors and Government and help us get the outcome that we got.”
‘Party unity important’
Meanwhile, Government Ministers have backed Mr Newman’s decision.
Transport Minister Scott Emerson says party unity is important and he supports the Premier’s move.
“Under our Westminster system there is a system of cabinet solidarity and as the Premier has indicated last night, Dr Davis’s position was untenable,” he said.
Treasurer Tim Nicholls says Dr Davis was given the chance to explain his actions at a meeting with the Premier beforehand.
“The Premier has extended a great degree of lee-way to Dr Davis in relation to recent events,” he said.
“Dr Davis did admit that he had stepped beyond the bounds, that he was outside the understood Westminster conventions and the principles of cabinet solidarity.”
“[Dr Davis] apologised for doing so – it really left the Premier with no alternative but to terminate his appointment as an Assistant Minister.”
The announcement was made about an hour before the federal Budget was handed down, which the Queensland Opposition has labelled as a sneaky move.
Mr Nicholls also defended the timing of the sacking, saying it was the first opportunity they had to meet.
He says he hopes Dr Davis remains with the LNP.
Newman ‘fails to listen to Queenslanders’
However, Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk says the sacking shows Mr Newman cannot handle criticism.
Ms Palaszczuk says Mr Newman will not listen to his own team, or anyone else.
“Dr Chris Davis has spoken out – he has been out there listening to some aspects of the community,” she said.
“But once again the Premier and this arrogant government simply fails to listen to Queenslanders as a whole.”
Independent MP Peter Wellington says Dr Davis is welcome to join him on the crossbenches if he quits or is pushed out of the LNP.
“This is just another sign of Premier Newman and his vindictive nature where he can’t stand anyone having an independent opinion,” he said.
“More importantly I think he’s using [Dr] Davis as an example to send a message to all his backbenchers.
“Some of them are certainly nervous and a bit anxious at the moment – he’s sending a message ‘don’t dare speak out or look out’.”
Source: ABC