There were renewed calls today for the sacking of Queensland Health Minister Stephen Robertson following revelations of a third report outlining safety concerns for staff in the Torres Strait.
Mr Robertson today released a workplace health and safety report, dated October 2005, which found a shocking state of disrepair at Queensland Health facilities, including doctors and nurses quarters, across the archipelago.
The embattled minister - under fire from both the opposition and the region's Labor MP Jason O'Brien for what he says is Mr Robertson's inaction - also released four briefing notes to his office relating to the alleged rape of a nurse on Mabuiag Island on February 5.
The alleged assault took place while the nurse was asleep in her residence after her attacker accessed the property through a faulty door lock.
Previous complaints by the nurse about the lack of security and disrepair of the residence had gone ignored.
The report released today showed a litany of problems in facilities across the Torres Strait's 14 main islands, including at Mabuiag where several security risks were highlighted.
Criticism has already flowed over Mr Robertson's failure to respond to a November 2006 report outlining serious security risks at remote health centres, as well as to another report last month, which acknowledged the alleged rape, and recommended "urgent maintenance and repair" in the region's health facilities.
Releasing the third report today, Mr Robertson acknowledged his department had managed the safety reports "poorly".
"Whilst this is clearly unacceptable, work is now underway to significantly improve safety and conditions for nurses on the islands," Mr Robertson said.
But opposition health spokesman John Paul Langbroek said the time had come for Premier Anna Bligh to "cut the health minister loose".
"We now have three secret government reports and correspondence from a Labor backbencher that shows three years of warnings about the conditions of nurses' living quarters in north Queensland," Mr Langbroek said.
