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Push is on for compo reform
Peter Cameron, 17 April 2008
Dr Jayant Patel is an unlikely saviour for Queenslanders stitched up by injury compensation clamps, but his case and notoriety could not be better timed.
Brisbane lawyer Peter Carter was mid-centre of the secret compensation deal cooked up by former Queensland premier Peter Beattie in a bid to find a cash cure for surgical victims of Dr Patel at Bundaberg marginalised by recent state law changes. Mr Carter was negotiating on behalf of the victims.
There were some six-figure payouts, but most were in the high four or low five-figure dollar range. Now Mr Carter is leading the charge to accelerate government compensation reforms laws which he said went `too far'.
Hard to work out exactly what `too far' means.
But stripped of all the legal `why to fores' and `where to fores', it can mean people who were once entitled to compo have to front Centrelink for a handout when they are not queueing for free treatment at a public hospital.
The financial cost of avoidable injury in Australia each year is estimated to exceed $50 million.
The Patel victims literally would have been up the creek without a cash cracker if the secret Beattie deal did not proceed.
The personal injury laws were introduced in 2002-'03 under what many lawyers believe was pressure from greedy insurance companies.
Former prime minister John Howard also threw in his two-bob's worth.
"Insurers manipulated the insurance crisis that occurred after the World Trade Centre attack in 2001 to their benefit. And weak-kneed politicians capitulated to their demands," Mr Carter declared.
Not all insurance companies are greedy, of course, but some are struggling better than others.
Australia's best-known source of assurance, QBE, recorded an annual profit nudging $2 billion for the 2007 calendar year.
Total insurance profits in Australia since the reform of civil liability laws is a mere $15 billion.
Never mind. State governments, including the Peter Beattie machine, tumbled for the Howard propaganda and insurance companies' sob story.
The financial burden of reckless conduct was transferred from the wrongdoer to the victim.
Consider Joe Blow from Palm Beach. He sustains a minor whiplash injury in a car accident.
Pre-2002 his lawyer probably could have secured him $30,000-$40,000 in compensation for his ongoing pain and discomfort.
Under current rules, unless there is substantial loss of wages, time off and a sound employment history, poor old Joe will be lucky to get $5000-$10,000.
Widow Jones, a Chirn Park pensioner, also can forget about compo if she slips and comes a cropper when out and about. Her income potential is non-existent, you see.
According to Mr Carter, the 2002-'03 Civil Liability Laws eliminated up to 80 per cent of personal injury claim payments on businesses and household insurance policies.
Citizens' rights painstakingly built up over a century were relegated to history.
Queensland Attorney-General Kerry Shine, who seems to have plenty on his plate, has made noises in and out of Parliament for months that he recognised problems with compo laws.
In the meantime, there was the bungled business of Dr Patel's extradition from the US (stay tuned!); the Director of Public Prosecutions office was seldom far from controversy; judicial appointments always seem to attract criticism if not raised eyebrows and then there were serious questions raised about legal deficiencies within the Mental Health system.
Yesterday, Mr Shine was waffling on in Parliament about the usurious cost of payday loans.
But Mr Shine will find it hard to duck the compo reform deal. Before entering Parliament from Toowoomba, Kerry Shine was a prominent and successful plaintiff injury lawyer.
If a new prod is needed from Canberra, Deputy Prime Minister Julie Gillard should be able to lend some influence.
The Deputy PM was a big-shot lawyer with legal firm Slater and Gordon before taking up politics.
Slater and Gordon, successful against James Hardie in the asbestos compo case, is Australia's leading compo outfit and, for want of a better description, bosom bodies of the union movement.
Back in Queensland, Mr Carter is not waiting for compo salvation from Canberra.
The website from his firm Carter Capner Law includes an advocacy portal to streamline complaints to newspapers and MPs.
The issue must be white hot. Even the wine snobs, credit card spruikers and travel agents from the Queensland Law Society finally are showing some interest in the review process. If not leadership.
Peter Carter makes some interesting points.
* Businesses which refuse to invest in injury avoidance practices do not face economic penalty when injury results.
* Those businesses which invest in injury avoidance are faced with increased costs as compared with their careless competitors.
* People injured without fault bear the life-long cost.
* Costs of those injured without adequate compensation are unfairly slugged on taxpayers through Medicare and public hospitals.
It is easy to dismiss bleating lawyers.
'No win, no fee' stuff did not exactly wrap the legal profession with distinction or respect. Some were correctly described as ambulance chasers.
But Mr Carter was unapologetic to The Gold Coast Bulletin when quizzed on the timing and thrust of his compensation reform campaign.
"Yes, we do make a living from representing people. But too often we are the last line of defence from people in need. We have a duty to speak up, particularly when the politicians cave in," he said.
NSW's personal injury procedures are similar to those in Queensland, so anyone considering hopping the border will have to go all the way to Melbourne where the rights of the injured run along more traditional lines.
Major corporations are not saying much on the compo issue.
They are not exactly thrilled with lawsuits. Or losing in court and having to cough up huge compensation payments to the maimed.
Mr Carter is adamant restricting lawsuits increases accident rates because it sends a message that lives and limbs are less important than profits. A Kerry Shine spokesman confirmed compo reforms would include expert opinion from the medical profession. But he conceded the reforms were not imminent.
Mr Carter's plea for total repeal of the current compo rules will be lost.
Dr Patel will spur things along if he ever reappears in Queensland. But that, we are told, is firmly in Canberra's hands.
"We're still waiting on the feds," Mr Shine's office reported about Dr Patel.
And until the reforms are complete, readers need to take extra care for their personal safety at work or just pottering about the shops. Ask widow Jones from Chirn Park.
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