This has had a run today, the blog is apparently still up notwithstanding Dr Jansen saying it is down and canceling his legal action.
For those without broadband, the Hansard is below:
11. CARMEL SEPULONI (Labour) to the Minister for ACC: Is he confident that victims and survivors of sexual abuse are getting fair treatment from ACC?
Hon TONY RYALL (Minister of Health) on behalf of the Minister for ACC: I am advised that since introducing the 16 hours of support sessions recommended by the independent review of the clinical pathway, there has been a good uptake of these sessions, and ACC has made positive gains in this area. ACC has also engaged Dr Barbara Disley, who chaired the initial review, to perform a 6-month progress report on ACC’s implementation of the recommendations, and that report is expected shortly. The Minister is confident that this progress review will confirm that ACC has made positive gains.
Carmel Sepuloni: Does he think fair treatment includes a senior medical adviser at ACC, Dr Peter Jansen, suing an ACC claimant, a victim of sexual abuse, for $250,000 for speaking her mind on a blog about the appalling treatment of sexual abuse victims under his watch?
Hon TONY RYALL: I would say the Minister for ACC is very concerned about the victims of sexual abuse, and he goes to great lengths to see that ACC handles them sympathetically and fairly at all times. If the member has some information that she would like me to raise with the Minister, I would be more than willing to do that.
Carmel Sepuloni: Will he investigate how Dr Peter Jansen accessed private information about a victim of sexual abuse and used it to initiate legal action?
Mr SPEAKER: If this is a matter where legal action has been initiated, I think we need to be fairly careful about that. I do not believe I should allow that question.
Hon Trevor Mallard: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I think the matter is relatively simple as to whether the matter is before the court. If it is not before the court, it is my understanding that it has been the practice of the House for a question to be allowed on an issue. If it is before the court, I think the practice has been developing, at least, of your being consulted before the matter is brought up.
Mr SPEAKER: That seems to be a reasonable argument. I will allow the Minister to answer.
Hon TONY RYALL: I know the Hon Nick Smith is always concerned about the victims of sexual abuse. If the member has information that she would like to bring to me on that case, I am sure the Minister will deal with it. It is completely unacceptable if ACC staff have not been dealing with the victims of sexual abuse in a sympathetic and professional way.
Carmel Sepuloni: Does he think it is fair treatment for a senior adviser at ACC not to have the resourcing to provide counselling to a victim of sexual abuse, but to have the resources to sue her for a quarter of a million dollars?
Hon TONY RYALL: I have no information about who is funding any of the suggestions that the member opposite is making in respect of legal action. I do know the Minister is very concerned to make sure that all victims of sexual abuse are dealt with sympathetically and professionally by the ACC
Carmel Sepuloni: Does the Minister think it is fair treatment for ACC claimants to be subjected to that type of legal action by ACC employees, and can other ACC complainants expect the same “fair” treatment if they dare to speak out?
Hon TONY RYALL: I invite the member to immediately bring the information and concerns that she has to the Minister’s attention. The Minister is always concerned to make sure that the victims of sexual abuse are dealt with sympathetically and professionally by the ACC. If she can show that that is not the case, I am sure the Minister will seek to take action.
Carmel Sepuloni: I seek leave to table a letter by the legal representation for Dr Peter Jansen to the sexual abuse victim accused by Dr Jansen of defamation, dated 12 April 2011.
Mr SPEAKER: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? Did I hear objection? There is objection.
You can hear on the video Carmel yell at the end- “I thought you said you wanted it?”
Dr Peter Jansen’s treatment of a sexual abuse victim is just the tip of the iceberg under his watch. There is no actual time period from when a person has a psychiatric assessment to when they see the AMA assessor regarding an ACC claim. Well my claim is no longer valid because ACC have ditched it. I require a barrister to look into a historical police matter before I can go to the AMA assessor because of a few unfair comments the ACC psychiatric assessor made which I have to defend myself against.
I listened to Nick Smith on this as I drove to work. Far from Carmel being misrepresentation of this matter she actually succeeded in getting Nick Smith and his department to get the good Dr to say he will drop the suit if the webpage comes down, which it has.
I would suggest that might point to Carmel’s comments impacting a settlement between these parties.
It’s also interesting to wonder what kind of visitor numbers the blog ever got? I ask, because my company tries hard to drive visitors to its sites at not inconsiderable cost.I read she had 15 visitors.
Also some question marks over how he got her personal contact details
Equally important in this is that despite the Law and Order crusade of National and Act the prosecution and sentencing of sexual offenders is incredibly low. Under reporting remains a major problem in NZ and if a woman so abused and then feels badly treated by the system wants to write a blog, the Dr should suck it up.
Interestingly he referred all questions to the ACC media team, so even though it was “personal”, collective taxpayers have to fund the media person to field enquiries he wont field.
I wonder what this woman says this shrink does to his patients!
It’s been reported in the last hour that the woman at the centre has not taken down her post, not has the good doctor withdrawn his suit. The information was said to have come from Nick Smith who got it wrong.
I just heard Sepuloni on checkpoint.
That was quite an embarrassing interview.
I heard it too Bed Rater. Nothing wrong with the interview. Are you a troll? What are you trying to insinuate.
Heard it too. Embarrassing for Smith as Minister in charge.
@Anne – I wish I knew what the site was!
I care not for either Smith or Sepuloni. I just found it quite strange that the latter could not explain how the situation should have been handled. She merely palmed it off as being Smiths responsibility. What was the point of her?
I’ve been wondering if by complaining to Carmel, who brought it up in question time, something that would not have been known by more than about 15 people has now spread? Defamation is all about reputation being besmirched but if no one knows about it your reputation cant suffer… if you catch my drift.
When it comes to Jax she is asking ACC for further treatment for sexual offending. ACC are declining her. Now some ACC Dr wants to make an example of her.
I have not seen Jax’s blog. Nick Smith is the ACC minister and his track record is unsympathetic to, in particular children who have been sexually abused. Nick Smith is not recognising a sexual violation when it occured prior to 1974 and you may of been a seven year old kid when you were sexually violated for months by a 75 year old neighbour.
Nick Smith without realising it has put sexual abuse victims into a position where they have to face a civil case because a sexual abuse victim is not receiving treatment for a injury.
It’s a Mexican stand off … Jansen won’t back down from legal action cause I (Jax) will not (and never will) make a public apology.
It is amazing that the man responsible for refusing a boat-load of people a subsidised counselling session for sexual abuse now sees fit to ask me for 250k damages over a mere fictitious and utterly satirical acronym.
I wonder if Jansen will now undergo a DMV-IV assessment. At the very least, he will need to be professionally assessed for the mental injury he now claims to have suffered as a result of my blog – an assessment, just like the rest of us have had to endure.
Good luck with that, by the way! According to Nick Smith, that should only take “twenty days.” I feel a “Tui” advertisement coming on…
Idiocy at its finest – allegedly, in my experience, and without prejudice….(rolls eyeballs)
JAX