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ABC News
14-06-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Hobart father finds specimens from daughter's body may have been kept in museum without consent
It is a night Hobart father Alby* will never forget. "My daughter passed away at the Royal Hobart Hospital on boxing day 40 years and five months ago at around 7.50pm." He said he had been hit by a second wave of grief after finding out his daughter, who was two years old when she died, may have had specimens taken from her body during a coronial autopsy without the family's knowledge and stored in a pathology museum. Alby regularly visits his daughter's grave in southern Tasmania. The Tasmanian Coroner's Office announced in April last year that specimens had potentially been given to the R. A. Rodda Pathology Museum at the University of Tasmania without consent for 30 years. The museum first raised concerns with the Coroner's Office in 2016. The Coroner's Office said initial records indicated the collection of specimens started in 1953, stopped in 1985, and related to 147 people. The office was able to identify some next of kin, but in January published a list of 126 names in newspaper advertisements and asked anyone related to any of the people named to contact the Coroner's Office. The advertisement did not include any information about how affected family members could access support. At the time, independent MLC Meg Webb criticised the office for its "blunt" handling of sensitive information. After Ms Webb's concerns were raised, the webpage was updated to include the form families are asked to submit to provide information, details of support services, and information sheets to help people cope with grief and loss. Alby has been in contact with the Coroner's Office about his daughter, but is yet to find out what specimens may have been retained from her body. He has been offered a phone call and has been advised to have a friend or family member with him when he receives that call. "I'm going to go through it all again." Alby described the communication from the Coroner's Office to him as "heartless", and said a phone call was not enough. "If they could just sit down and just feel the pain that we're feeling," he said. "Then they'd probably understand what it's like, just to see the faces and see the health effects it's going to have on people for many years." Ms Webb said it had been sad to see how the situation had affected many Tasmanian families. "It's come as a real shock … and it's really brought up a lot of trauma for many families," she said. "This is a highly unusual situation and it's come out of the blue. "It really required incredibly sensitive communication with the families involved, and what we've seen is that some families have not felt that that communication has been as sensitive as it needed to be, and I think there's a lot to learn from this circumstance so we don't see this repeated." Ms Webb said while the Coroner's Office was investigating how the remains came to be in the R. A. Rodda Museum's collection, further questions needed to be answered. She also said there should be some form of public reporting with clear recommendations. "We need to have some questions answered about how this happened, who was responsible and who should have had oversight over these circumstances. Investigating coroner, Simon Cooper, said there was no known precedent in Tasmania of a notification to the Coroner's Office of this size. "It has been and remains a significant task for the Coronial Division, whose staff have worked diligently and efficiently to progress the matter," Mr Cooper said. "I wish to emphasise that, until they were reported, the existence of the remains were not known by present or previous coroners or staff of the Coroner's Office. "Their removal at autopsy to be used as medical museum specimens were not at any direction or order of a coroner." Mr Cooper said he recognised "that the discovery of these specimens has been a difficult and painful experience for many". "The coroners and the staff of the Coronial Division work extremely hard to ensure coronial processes are properly, patiently and sensitively applied to this historical situation, whilst performing the required functions under the Coroners Act 1995. "I anticipate publishing further information, in the form of a finding under the Coroners Act 1995 within the next few months, when all investigations are complete." A spokesperson for the Coroner's Office said the office continued to manage "a number of inquiries" as the investigation continues, and that counselling support was being offered to family members who have come forward. Health ethics and professionalism professor at Deakin School of Medicine Dominique Martin said ethical principals, standards and expectations in clinical medical practice — including the importance of consent — had evolved over the past century. "But that's taken us several decades to get to, and if we look then at the removal of body parts … during life or after death, I think that's probably been a few decades behind that," Dr Martin said. She said that until "very recently", and not just in Australia, there had been examples of body parts either being removed with permission or knowledge but retained and used for purposes without there having been any consultation with the patient, or, in the case of a death, the patient's family. "That's, I think, been for a very long time considered normal in medicine and in scientific research." Dr Martin said while there had been a "big change", it had been relatively recent. "I suspect we're not done with finding out things that have happened in the recent past that we nowadays would be quite concerned about," she said. "What matters is that they [patients or their families] have a choice in it, that they have control over that, and usually they have some knowledge of how things will be treated. *Name has been changed
ABC News
25-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Guy Barnett will hand down his first state budget amid challenging times for his party
It's not the ideal setting for Treasurer Guy Barnett's first state budget. After watching the Liberals lose all their Tasmanian Lower House seats at this month's federal election, new EMRS polling released on Monday showed the state Liberal Party slumping below Labor in the polls for the first time since 2009. The government's woes were further compounded on Saturday night, with a poor showing at the Legislative Council elections. The Liberals look set to lose one of their four Upper House seats, with election experts forecasting independent Casey Hiscutt is on track to defeat Liberal Stephen Parry in Montgomery and claim the seat his mother Leonie held for the Liberals since 2013. The Liberals also fell flat in Nelson, where candidate Marcus Vermey has failed to win a single booth off independent Meg Webb, including in the traditional Liberal heartland of Sandy Bay. Ms Webb has so far attracted a whopping 52 per cent of the primary vote, with Mr Vermey well back on 34.1 per cent. Political analyst Kevin Bonham says the result shows the issues with the party's brand aren't confined to the federal election, like frontbencher Felix Ellis tried to suggest this week. "There just seems to be no appetite for voters to elect more government members to the Legislative Council," he said. "Voters want the government to be scrutinised." But Dr Bonham says there's no shame in the Liberals, represented by former senator Stephen Parry, losing the seat of Montgomery. Mr Hiscutt leads Mr Parry by 2.47 per cent on primary votes, with Dr Bonham projecting him to extend that lead when preferences are counted on Thursday. "They [the Liberals] won that seat in 2013 and that was a time when the Liberal brand was soaring high and there was massive resentment to the Labor-Green coalition government in that area of the state. "So it was a smart move for Leonie Hiscutt to run as a Liberal even though previous Hiscutts had been independents. "But at the moment it was not a smart move — if Casey Hiscutt had run as Liberal, someone would have come out and out flanked him as an independent, so he's done the clever thing here." Casey Hiscutt's great uncles Desmond and Hugh Hiscutt were previously members of the Legislative Council in the 1980s and 1990s. Whatever the reason, the Liberals' likely defeat in Montgomery makes things even tougher for the government. The six major party MLCs are outnumbered by eight independents and Green Cassy O'Connor. The Liberals, with just three MLCs — ministers Nick Duigan, Kerry Vincent and Jo Palmer — need the support of five other MLCs to pass legislation. That means either five crossbenchers, or Labor and three independents. It makes it harder for a government already frustrated by the Upper House not passing some of its legislation, like its push to allow certain development applications to bypass local councils. The government will need to display some great negotiation skills to get controversial plans, like its special legislation allowing the Macquarie Point stadium to be built, through the Upper House. Getting three independents to join the Labor Party in supporting the stadium won't be an easy task. The government already had its hands full getting two of Tania Rattray, Bec Thomas, Dean Harriss and Ruth Forrest to support the legislation. Now it'll also have to woo Mr Hiscutt, who says he supports the stadium but wants to scrutinise the legislation before guaranteeing he'll vote for it. The recent blows for the Liberal Party make Mr Barnett's first budget even more important. It needs some good PR to get the public back onside. But that's not an easy task when the state is on track to reach almost $10 billion of debt by 2027-28, and doesn't yet have a concrete date to return to surplus. None of that makes it easy to deliver the kind of big funding injections that put smiles on the faces of Tasmanians. At a press conference on Sunday announcing another year of record health expenditure, Mr Barnett said the budget would contain a "very clear pathway to surplus", but refused to answer whether the document would forecast one being achieved in the next four years. And, crucially, he refused to rule out making some calls that will stir up public opposition, like accelerating public sector spending cuts, or unveiling plans to sell state-owned companies. Here's a snippet from the press conference: Journalist: When will we see [economist] Saul Eslake's report into government business enterprises? Mr Barnett: I'll have more to say about that later this week Journalist: So is that your budget day surprise, you're selling assets? Mr Barnett: Let's be very clear in terms of the budget. We're very focused on building a better Tasmania now and for the future, investing in the things that matter for Tasmanians like health; today is an excellent example of that, we've got record funding in health. I'm very excited and looking forward to budget day and I'll have more to say on Thursday. Journalist : So how many assets are you going to sell? Mr Barnett: I'm looking forward to budget day on Thursday. The press conference seemed to point to a budget that could contain some tough love, right at a time when the government needs an easy sell the most. No pressure, Mr Barnett. And it all comes at a time when the government's task of getting the public back onside is set to get even tougher, with its draft stadium legislation set to go out for public consultation in the next week. After EMRS polling showed the Liberals losing the most support in the state's north and north-west, being seen to be ramming through a project that polling says is deeply unpopular there will be pretty tough to sell to the public. And that could make the task of convincing Tasmanians to elect them to a fifth straight term in office at the 2028 state election that little bit tougher than it's already looking.
ABC News
25-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Meg Webb and Luke Edmunds expected to be returned, third Legislative Council seat still unclear
Two incumbent members of Tasmania's Legislative Council are expected to retain their seats, but who will win the third seat remains unclear. Elections were held in three of the 15 Legislative Council divisions on Saturday. Political analyst Kevin Bonham said the two southern electorates of Nelson and Pembroke would be held by sitting members, independent Meg Webb and Labor's Luke Edmunds. Dr Bonham said Ms Webb had won "very convincingly" and could win on primaries alone. He said Mr Edmunds had a "huge" primary vote lead from which no other candidate would be able to catch him. In a statement released on Saturday night, the Tasmanian Electoral Commission (TEC) said Ms Webb held a majority of first-preference votes in Nelson, with 51 per cent. Ms Webb described it as "a resounding vote for an independent Upper House, and for greater integrity, transparency and accountability in politics". About 1,800 early votes were yet to be counted in Nelson. The TEC said Mr Edmunds held a "strong lead" in Pembroke, with almost 44 per cent of first preference votes. The north-west seat of Montgomery was a bit more uncertain, following the retirement of Liberal Leonie Hiscutt. Her son, independent Casey Hiscutt, has almost 32 per cent of first preference votes, followed by the Liberal candidate, former senator Stephen Parry with 29 per cent, and the Greens' Darren Briggs with 21 per cent. Tasmanian Electoral Commissioner Andrew Hawkey said Montgomery would be decided on preferences. "[There are] two candidates on very level pegging … I would think for Montgomery we're going to have to distribute [the preferences given to] those lower candidates to see who comes out on top," Mr Hawkey said. Dr Bonham said he expected Mr Hiscutt to win unless Mr Parry did better than expected on preferences. If Mr Hiscutt wins, there will be nine independent members in the Upper House. "That will make things hard for the government on things where Labor supports but the independents are sceptical," Dr Bonham said. He said the Liberals' biggest obstacle in Montgomery was going up against the "Hiscutt family name". But he said Mr Hiscutt's pro-stadium stance may have tipped some voters towards the Greens and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party. Counting will continue Monday, with pre-poll, provisional and out-of-division votes added. Postal votes will be counted on Thursday. Mr Hawkey said Saturday was a successful voting day despite the wet and windy weather. "It looks like we've had good turn outs in all three divisions," he said. He said 66 people with a print disability used the telephone voting service, which was expanded for the first time this year. Members of the Legislative Council are elected for six-year terms on a rolling election cycle, which means two or three divisions are up for election each year.
