Nola Fraser

Nola Therese Fraser (née Chalhoub) is an Australian small business owner, former nurse and former Liberal candidate on two occasions for the seat of Macquarie Fields. Fraser became a whistleblower at two Sydney hospitals where she worked though none of her claims have been substantiated and have been shown to have been baseless.^[1] Her claims have since resulted in a number of Macarthur health workers having been bullied and spat at in public and being diagnosed with depression.^[2] Fraser has left nursing and currently owns a beauty salon.^[3]

Whistleblower

Fraser rose to prominence when she publicly criticised the administration of Camden and Campbelltown hospitals in south-western Sydney. Her claims were backed by fellow nurses Valerie Owen, Vanessa Brag, Sheree Martin and Yvonne Quinn. On 5 November 2002, Fraser took her concerns to the health minister, and her local member of parliament, Craig Knowles. Fraser would later claim—and Knowles deny—that upon cataloguing the dangers patients faced at the hospitals, the minister threatened her.

Knowles demanded evidence, which the nurses provided, but after three weeks there had been no word on any investigation. It was reported that New South Wales Department of Health officials had been destroying incriminating documents, but this claim was later proved to be baseless by the later ICAC inquiry. Meanwhile, an internal review concluded that the nurses' claims merited investigation by the Health Care Complaints Commission.

On 25 February 2003, the HCCC recommended that no action be taken, having made "no findings that support any loss of confidence by the community in the Macarthur Health Service." The findings came three weeks before 2003 state election, which Labor won.

Fraser and her colleagues continued their campaign in the media, with the help of talkback radio host Alan Jones. As HCCC investigations continued, according to a 2003 Sydney Morning Herald report, "those staff who were considering reporting their concerns about the failures watched helplessly as the whistleblower nurses were sidelined and victimised, their jobs placed in limbo." The department ordered a second investigation, led by the head of the Australian Council for Safety and Quality in Health Care.

A copy of the HCCC's interim report was leaked to the Sun-Herald. The HCCC had concluded that of 47 complaints, at least 17 patients "had died after receiving unsafe, inadequate or questionable care" at Camden and Campbelltown. But the report did not lay blame with any individual.

In response, the opposition Liberal Party led by John Brogden took up the nurses' concerns, decrying what they described as a "cover-up".^[4]

ICAC Inquiry

An Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry into Knowles' behaviour cleared the minister in September 2005.^[5]

The ICAC report stated that "while the commission accepts that Ms Fraser and Ms Martin are likely to have personally believed that their allegations were true, it has concluded that the allegations were founded on nothing more than gossip, speculation and hearsay."^[6]

The report said no first-hand evidence was provided of corrupt conduct, nor was there evidence to support claims of falsification and alteration of hospital records, criminal offences, suspicious deaths at Liverpool Hospital, or attempts to silence nurses with "hush money".^[6]

In 2004 Channel Nine's Sunday program established serious doubts about Fraser's claims and motives. These were highlighted by Sydney Morning Herald journalist Michael Duffy in 2005.^[2]

Though none of Fraser's allegations were substantiated by the commission, separate investigations by the HCCC, a Special Commission of Inquiry, the state coroner and the New South Wales Ombudsman made findings that ended the careers of a number of bureaucrats.

Political campaigns

After Knowles resigned from Parliament in 2005, Fraser contested his seat of Macquarie Fields for the Liberal Party of Australia. Fraser achieved a swing of 12% for her party, not enough to defeat Labor's Steven Chaytor.^[7]

Fraser was again endorsed by the Liberals for the March 2007 election. However, despite Chaytor's conviction on assault charges two months before the poll, Fraser was unable to improve on her byelection result and was defeated by Labor's candidate, Dr Andrew McDonald.^[8]

After the results had been released on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, for the 2007 election, Fraser indicated that this would be her last election and that she wanted to take more time to look after her family. This was not the case, however, as she stood unsuccessfully for election to Campbelltown City Council in 2008, receiving 54 primary votes.^[9]

Fraser again stood for Macquarie Fields at the New South Wales state election, 2011 but this time as an independent.^[10] She gained approximately 11% of the primary votes.^[11]

The Liberal candidate Sam Eskaros won 37% of the primary vote but despite a heavy swing against him the sitting ALP member Andrew McDonald retained the seat with 51.5% of the two party preferred vote.

See also

• New South Wales state election, 2007
• Sydney South West Area Health Service

References

Ban for nurse who used 'dangerous alternative' cancer treatments. The Sydney Morning Herald, 14 April 2014