Friends of Wallsend Aged Care Facility (WACF) are outraged that the ethical action of Sonia Hornery in relaying her electors opposition to the privatisation of WACF to the Premier has been used by him as an excuse to demote her, according to a spokesman.
Ms Hornery has tried to explain her electors’ message that residents of WACF cannot receive the same level of quality care if the facility is operated by a private provider because of the special needs of the over 100 residents with multi-faceted needs, said Janet Sutherland of WACF.
More than 20 residents are young people. Private providers operate under federal guidelines which do not stipulate the minimum staff levels, expertise and services currently received by residents free of charge. All our residents are classified as concessional in terms of financial needs.
The premier has insulted the people of the Lower Hunter by lumping the banning of developer donations with Ms Hornery’s responsible actions on behalf of WACF.
In an angry outburst during a press conference, Ms Sutherland said government should be a two-way process not a dictating of decisions from the top down.
"Good representatives like Ms Hornery, carry information both ways and listen to the people who elect them,” said Ms Sutherland.
When a government dictates in a one-way direction to people as if they are cogs in a financially expedient wheel, those same people remember that elections too are a one-way process determined by the constituents.
If Premier Rees and Health Minister Tebbutt cared to look at the addresses on the thousands of letters and signatures on petitions from supporters of WACF they would notice that they are voters from across Newcastle and the Lower Hunter."
The privatisation of this facility with it’s origins in levies from miners and its current performance as an excellent public provider for people with very special needs is opposed strongly from all sections of the Newcastle and Lower Hunter community.
Ms Hornery should be congratulated for fulfilling her elected duty to relay this message to the NSW Government."
In justifying his latest cabinet reshuffle, Mr Rees has been urging MPs to remember that they have the word “Honourable” in their title. There is nothing in his demotion of Ms Hornery that indicates he has the least understanding of the meaning of the word. A politician who openly and honestly represents her constituents should surely be valued over unquestioning automatons. Yes, there is a place for loyalty in politics but to think that by removing all those who seek to do the work for which they were elected you can stem the rising tide of discontent outside the parliament is a naive and dangerous response in a democracy. Mr Rees would do well to note that the people of the Hunter ARE loyal but they will not blindly follow Labor like the unquestioning acolytes he seems to favour.