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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 667 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 26 October 2021 by Ms L. Mettam

Parliament: 41 Session: 1

PERTH CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL — AISHWARYA ASWATH

667. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:

I refer to the minister's media announcement on 25 May stating that it would take 10 weeks for an inquiry to report back on the tragic death of Aishwarya Aswath.

(1) Given it has now been more than 20 weeks, when will we see the inquiry's report into the tragic death of Aishwarya Aswath so that her family can get the answers they are desperately waiting for?

(2) Is this yet another example of the minister failing to deliver on his promises?

Mr R.H. COOK replied:

(1)–(2) The answer to the question is no. The fact of the matter is that we have been severely impacted by COVID-19 because it is important that when we do these inquiries, we have experts from outside the jurisdiction so that they can come in and provide an independent view of the circumstances and the situation that they are inquiring into. It is a very careful process. As I have said in this place before, it is not one that I am prepared to put any artificial deadlines on. The advice I received at the time—I think the member mentioned 25 May—was that there was an expectation that it would take around 25 weeks. However, the inquiry has been significantly hampered by the fact that the travel arrangements we anticipated to be undertaken by the inquirers were, obviously, severely curtailed.

I can say that the inquiry is in its final stages of completion and that we have had significant contact with the family to make sure that they understand the delays. My understanding is that they are comfortable with those delays and they understand the reasons for them. We want to make sure that we work closely with them and, in particular, make sure that they have access to the inquiry's findings before we make them public and they have the opportunity to discuss the findings with the inquirers. I will not rush this process. It is one that we are stepping through very carefully, making sure that we provide an absolutely comprehensive analysis of the situation, that everyone is provided due process and that everyone feels heard. From that perspective, I will wait for it to conclude and when it is delivered to me, we will be able to make that report public.