Robyn Parker, Blundergirl

NSW minister dismisses resignation calls

Adam Bennett

February 23, 2012 AAP

NSW Environment Minister Robyn Parker has dismissed calls for her resignation over the botched handling of the Orica chemical leak at Newcastle, instead calling a scathing report into the accident "political" and "unnecessary".

The upper house committee's report into the August 8 hexavalent chromium leak, which sent a chemical plume over the nearby suburb of Stockton, lays most of the blame for the debacle at Orica's feet.

But Ms Parker is also criticised for taking until August 11 to notify the public of the leak at the Kooragang Island plant - three days after the accident and almost 24 hours after she was informed of the accident.

The upper house committee found the minister had given no explanation for her delay in telling Stockton residents, which she did by making a statement to parliament.

The failure to tell locals sooner - which the report blamed on Orica, the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) and Ms Parker - meant "many in the Stockton and surrounding communities (were) living with a great deal of uncertainty and fear for longer than was necessary".

Opposition leader John Robertson in question time demanded Ms Parker resign over the bungled handling of the leak.

However, the environment minister dismissed calls for her head, labelling the upper house inquiry "political" and unnecessary after the government-commissioned O'Reilly report into the leak, which was released in October.

"This government has acknowledged that the incident on August 8 caused by Orica was unacceptable. It let down the people of Stockton and surrounding areas," Ms Parker said.

"We've already acknowledged that there were failures in systems and reporting, starting with Orica taking so long to report."

Opposition environment spokesman Luke Foley, who sat on the inquiry, said the report "should be the final nail in the coffin of environment minister Robyn Parker".

"It is a damning indictment of her failure to protect the people of Stockton," he said.

"It is long overdue the premier does the responsible thing and dismisses Robyn Parker as a minister in NSW."

In its findings, the committee said Orica's approach to addressing the potential of a leak was "grossly inadequate", and its failure to inspect Stockton until midday the day after the leak was an "inadequate response".

Orica's delay in notifying the OEH was also "unacceptable", while its emergency response plan was "not sufficiently clear or comprehensive".

The company's failure to notify NSW Health until more than 41 hours after the chemical leak "demonstrated a lack of urgency in addressing the potential for public health risks to communities in Stockton".

The report also criticised the OEH for its "unacceptable" delay in notifying the minister of the leak. Ms Parker was not notified until two days after the accident.

WorkCover should have visited the plant earlier than 50 hours after the leak, the report said.

It makes seven recommendations, including that the premier provide "clear and unambiguous" guidelines to all ministers specifying the timing of public health or safety notifications.

The committee also called on the OEH to amend its procedures so information was passed to other agencies in a more timely manner.

In a brief statement, Orica said it was reviewing the report and would "respond in due course".

The Nature Conservation Council of NSW said the report showed there was a need for stronger regulation of facilities such as the Kooragang Island plant.

© 2012 AAP

 

Calls for Robyn Parker to resign

BY JOSEPHINE TOVEY [SMH]

28 Oct, 2011

THE state’s Environment Minister, Robyn Parker, was labelled a ‘‘threatened species’’ after repeatedly stumbling and giving unclear answers under aggressive questioning at a budget estimates hearing yesterday.

Ms Parker, the Member for Maitland, who already came under fire in August over her handling of the carcinogenic chemical leak at Stockton, appeared to claim logging ‘‘protects koalas’’ during a heated exchange with the opposition.

She later accused Labor of ‘‘badgering’’ her, and said she phrased her answer incorrectly.

The Premier, Barry O’Farrell, did not comment yesterday on calls for her resignation.

The hearing was heated from the beginning and the chairman, Shooters Party MP Robert Brown, repeatedly reprimanded Labor’s environment spokesman, Luke Foley, for interrupting Ms Parker.

In one exchange, Mr Foley asked why logging had recently been approved in the Boambee State Forest near Coffs Harbour, a significant habitat for koalas, a threatened species.

‘‘You’ve now signed off on logging of the Boambee State Forest, Minister, haven’t you?’’ he said.

‘‘You might not understand how forestry agreements work,’’ she responded.  ‘‘It seems as though you don’t, because they are agreed, we regulate and that, that logging protects, protects koalas.’’

‘‘How does logging protect koalas? It destroys their habitat!’’ Mr Foley interrupted.

The Greens MP, Cate Faehrmann, said it was clear the state did not have the strong Environment Minister that it needed and called her a ‘‘threatened species’’.

‘‘She constantly referred to her notes, she didn’t seem to understand the most basic of environmental legislation ... ’’ she said.

Later, Ms Parker clarified her comments on radio. ‘‘Logging doesn’t help koalas,’’ she said.

‘‘I was interrupted continuously so I’ve missed a couple of words out in one sentence in three and half hours.’’

Environment minister Robyn Parker under pressure

BY SEAN NICHOLLS [SMH] 20 Aug, 2011

PREMIER Barry O’Farrell is resisting calls to stand down his Environment Minister Robyn Parker over her handling of a leak of toxic chemicals from Orica’s Kooragang plant – despite evidence she knew residents may have been exposed but did not publicise it for almost 24 hours.

The Sydney Morning Herald revealed that the Office of Environment and Heritage emailed an ‘‘Early Alert’’ to Ms Parker’s office at 4.23pm on August 10, two days after the leak.

It warned that parts of Stockton had been covered by a residue ‘‘characteristic of hexavalent chromium, which is a hazardous substance if inhaled’’.

The office of the Newcastle MP, Tim Owen, said he was informed of the alert soon after via a telephone message, despite Ms Parker not going public with a warning until 3.27pm the next day.

Shortly after, the Department of Health issued guidelines to Stockton residents who may have been affected, including advice to wash down surfaces with which children might come into contact.

The guidelines said hexavalent chromium could cause cancer, but normally only after high levels of exposure over a long period. They said ‘‘current available evidence suggests a low risk’’ from the Orica release.

The Opposition Leader, John Robertson, demanded yesterday Ms Parker be stood down pending the findings of an independent inquiry ordered by Mr O’Farrell.

Ms Parker’s office did not return calls.

The Office of Environment and Heritage alert has focused attention on her initial public statements about when the government first learnt of the leak. At a news conference on the Friday after the incident, Ms Parker told Channel Seven: ‘‘The Office of Environment and Heritage first heard about this incident on Tuesday, so they immediately talked to Orica and at first we were told it was an emission on site.’’

However, she has subsequently said she first learnt about the incident from the alert.

The alert raises questions about why the Health Minister, Jillian Skinner, did not act to tell the public about the dangers of exposure to the chemical. Ms Skinner told the Herald she was told about the leak on Wednesday at 5.50pm by Ms Parker’s office.

‘‘I confirmed that as this was potentially a public health issue, it was most appropriately dealt with by the chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant,” she said. “I have total confidence in Dr Chant.’’ SMH

Blundergirl's inaugural speech in the NSW LegCo

Download Robyn Parker inaugural speech LC

What JemCom likes about this is Ms Parker's light-hearted promise to work as she says she has always done: out of the boot of her car!

In other words, no office (except the Legislative Council office in Macquarie St, Sydney), no phone and no address in the Maitland area where she lived then and represents now in the Legislative Assembly.

Robyn Parker puts her case at Orica inquiry

MICHELLE HARRIS

22 Nov, 2011 04:00 AM

MINISTER for the Environment Robyn Parker has told a parliamentary inquiry she had been ‘‘in touch’’ through her staff with Orica about its chemical leaks, but that direct contact could jeopardise a prosecution and suggest political interference.

Orica boss Graeme Liebelt recently told a parliamentary inquiry into the August 8 hexavalent chromium leak over Stockton that he had tried to call Ms Parker three times in the week after the leak.

But during another inquiry hearing yesterday, the Maitland MP said she had been advised it was not part of her role to interact with Orica and she should remain at ‘‘arm’s length’’ from operational processes.

Earlier, Finance and Services minister Greg Pearce told the inquiry he considered Mr Liebelt’s evidence had been ‘‘shifty and evasive’’.

During her evidence, Ms Parker repeatedly avoided directly answering Labor’s questions about how many times she had visited Stockton since the leak.

She said she had been there on a ‘‘number of occasions’’ but struggled to name an instance apart from an initial press conference after the leak.

[The Advocate has, in a career of about 30 years, encountered only one State Minister who did not carry a diary; and he had an efficient private secretary who did it for him, and a departmental secretary who kept one as well; and the Premier's office has the power to see any Minister's diary whenever he or she wants to.]

Ms Parker also became flustered when Labor’s Luke Foley questioned a remark in her opening statement that she had been told of the August 8 leak about 30 hours after it occurred, when in fact she had found out on the Wednesday night, about 48 hours later.

Her Coalition colleagues on the inquiry committee called several points of order over Labor’s questions, and in one instance accused Mr Foley of ‘‘bullying’’ Ms Parker.

Premier Barry O’Farrell defended Ms Parker again yesterday, saying Orica was to blame for the 54-hour delay in the public being officially told of the leak after the government was informed.

He said the company had shown a pattern with leaks before and after August 8.

‘‘There just seemed to be a complete and utter breakdown or some cavalier attitude by the company involved in these spills,’’ Mr O’Farrell said. [For cavalier attitude, see the note above on diaries.]

There also needed to be ‘‘cultural change’’ within government bureaucracy to make the public interest the prime focus.

But asked if he agreed with an earlier statement of Ms Parker’s to Parliament that ‘‘people were informed when they needed to be’’, Mr O’Farrell said: ‘‘No one should be happy about the notification of the public.’’

Premier says Robyn Parker was 'having a bad day'

Premier says Robyn Parker was 'having a bad day'

MICHELLE HARRIS

11 Nov, 2011 01:38 PM

PREMIER Barry O’Farrell has stood by Environment minister Robyn Parker over the handling of the latest Orica leak, and says she was ‘‘having a bad day’’ when she couldn’t name the boss of the company.

Ms Parker has again been criticised for not issuing a statement swiftly following the leak of ammonia on Wednesday afternoon, which led to two people being hospitalised.

It was the third leak of chemicals at the site within four months.

Ms Parker stumbled repeatedly at a press conference yesterday, when she had to be prompted by Environmental Protection Authority boss Greg Sullivan to be able to name the head of Orica, Graeme Liebelt.

She also admitted she had not spoken with Orica nor Mr Sullivan on Wednesday night.

Mr O’Farrell said he would not be sacking Ms Parker.

‘‘All of us from time to time have a bad day,’’ Mr O’Farrell said.

‘‘The point though is that what we’ve seen is the plant closed.’’

He said Ms Parker ‘‘enjoys my confidence’’ and that ‘‘the first responders who dealt with this issue this week have again demonstrated why residents of Stockton, why workers around this plant can have confidence in the state’s environmental regulators’’.

‘‘I think people do have confidence in our government and have an understanding that this spill, this latest emission wasn’t the fault of the Minister for the Environment, it was the fault of the company that’s now become a serial offender and that’s why the plant was shut down,’’ Mr O’Farrell said.

Parker's environmental credentials questioned

Updated October 27, 2011 20:34:19

NSW Environment Minister Robyn Parker has been criticised after telling a budget estimates hearing that logging protects koala habitats.

Mark Tobin

Source: 7pm TV News NSW | Duration: 2min 17sec