Research And Education
Introduction
Throughout the last 6 yrs, I have pursued the role of Advocate for a Maori mental health patient. This journey has led me into extensive correspondence with all of the Offices listed below:
The List.
The Law Society of NZ.
The Auditor Generals Office.
The Health and Disability Commissioner
New Zealand Nurses Association
The College of Nurses Aotearoa
Te Ao Maramatanga NZ College of Mental Health Nurses
The Nursing Council of New Zealand
The NZ Police
The District Inspectors Office
McKesson NZ.
The Medical Council of New Zealand
The NZ Mental Health Commission
The Serious Fraud Office
The Ombudsmens Office
The Ministry of Health.
The Ministry of Justice.
The Police Commissioner.
The Maori Party of New Zealand.
I have appeared at :
A Nursing Council Preliminary Hearing
A Nursing Council Disciplinary Hearing.
The NZ Confidential Forum on Mental Health
A High Court Appeal (I lost.)
A Nursing Council Reinstatement Hearing ( Adjourned )
A Nursing Council Reinstatement Hearing ( Reconvened ) I won.
At these proceedings I had legal representation on 2 occasions, and I represented myself at the other 4. I have initiated A Law Society Investigation: (and I'd like to initiate a few more..)
I have conducted a 3hr Workshop at an International Conference: (and I'd like to conduct a few more...)
This data is also available to all organizations and individuals who are threatening to sue me for defamation. It is evidence that all I publish is true, and therefore defamatory of nobody. So if you wish to sue me I can save you the expense of employing expensive lawyers: If you are interested in the material for research, then just post a request with proof of identity (Nursing Registration No. Medical Reg No. Law School student ID.. etc.) through to my Website at brianstabb.net, and I will forward the appropriate file to you.
It seems that to attract alert interested minds nowadays it helps to distort the English language into Newspeak.. Sort of like dangling luminescent fish-bait. It attracts the curious apparently... and I do so want to attract interest from the young and agile-minded... the moral and the modern... those with humanity and humour... hope and vision... and a growing wisdom, wit, and warmth. Those that care.
So in the tradition of Newspeak I now lay claim to;
(Why 1893?.. That's on account of Great-Great Uncle Cecil St.Abb.. It is an affair kept in the St.Abb family skeletal closet until now..
Suffice it to say that the plaque was constructed by a sympathetic gravestone-carver from Woolton Quarry, and was cemented above the
front door of a terraced house in South Liverpool.
The goals of the Academy are as yet unclear... in fact they have by way of family tradition always been rather vague. Cecil used it as forum for evidencing 'Conspiratorial Discrimination', a personally-coined (PC) way of describing the very worse kind of bullying ever: Gang-Bullying.
Of course quite a lot of that sort of thing went on in dockside Liverpool in those days. Cecil, quite contrary to the family tradition of destitution, was a successful businessman who owned a dockside Pawn Shop. He aspired to move up in the world, and had been campaigning for equal business opportunity in the Liverpool triangular-slave-trade at the time of his sudden demise in kerosene: He was known as a man of principle. So I think it's about time that the Academy had sort of a real purpose... to honour Cecil... not that he's much of an ancestor to honour really... but he's the only one with a plaque so I'm claiming him... my heritage. It stirs my cultural roots now as I tell his story...
So how about:
"Zero Tolerance for Conspiratorial
Discrimination in New Zealand Nursing."
as a goal for the Academy?
Cecil would have loved the term 'Zero Tolerance'.
Come to think about it why stop at Nursing ? Why not for the whole of New Zealand?....Whoops, that's too silly for even this page... Change the subject quick. Draw a line or something
OK then. Another purpose of the Academy might be to help Kiwis become more at ease with this word 'Conspiracy'.
Since the times of Rainbow Warrior, Wine-Box, and Mt Erebus the word appears to have gradually slipped from our national vocabulary... We are constantly confronted with the word in International vocabulary in the media... fundamentalist Islamic conspiracies usually... Yet in the context of New Zealand news, morning chat shows, very little use of the word.... And it's far too 'off-centre' for the National Programme nowadays... especially since Kim Hill retired to Saturday chats with famous people and Cooking. NZ Television for thinking people? Forget it. The Press? Luck of the draw it seems to me... although the integrity still seems to be around. The Net. - You can write what you want to say without having it distorted by folk with other interests, and that's a major plus.
Maybe we as a nation have so much legislation to ensure Lawfulness, that we feel absolutely safe and immune to Conspiracy
at a national level.
Nowadays the word has become more exclusive to the domain of our eccentrics... our lunatic fringe... language for Paranoiacs... Conspiracy Theorists...
Scientologists... Michael Moore ... Alec Jones..
Fruit-Loops making lots of money with sensationalist documentaries... 'New World Order indeed!'....Ha !..
Only in America thank goodness!
None of that kind of carry -on here! Not in a free, democratic New Zealand!
Well yes there is I'm afraid. I have experienced gross corruption and conspiracy within an
august New Zealand Statutory Body of Law, for a period of 6 yrs.
I have diligently recorded all evidence of the same and it is a damning indictment.
"You got to be pulling my leg! Conspiracy and corruption mate? What here in NZ? What do you mean?.... Winston wangled another free feed of scallops has he?... Conspiracy? Pigs arse. The sort of stuff you are on about mate, corruption in statutory legal bodies, happens on the African continent...
and South America . You know... juntas... bent judiciaries... corruption, crooked cops.. all that sort of carry on...
This is Aotearoa New Zealand. Nothing like that happens here ( apart from a few perks of course... ) We are a Democracy!
There's not enough people here for a conspiracy, for a start.... Somebody would blab!...
And besides...'A Fair Go' is part of our National tradition.
Our heritage to our children... our forefathers fought side by side to ensure that our unsmacked kids get the privilege
of a fair go in life, didn't they?... to prevent all that Nazi crap ever going on here in Godzone.
What about Anzac Day?... I go every year you know, take the kids too. We mustn't ever forget our history...
And to cap it off mate, It's not like you re saying it's a conspiracy somewhere really important... Like... The Police Force or something... No... No
You're on about the bloody Nursing Council for Pete's sake !
What did they do? Fiddle a new twin set and pearls each on the expense account? ... Book up an excess of blue - rinses
at the local Hair Salon?
Go on... shove off. I've got to shift my boat off this trailer before lunch and I'm taking the family to the beach for a
barbeque this afternoon"
Despite all the self banter I shall place the said proposal:
"Zero Tolerance for Conspiratorial Discrimination in New Zealand Nursing."
before the non-existent Board of Directors of The Academy of Conspiratorial Evidentialism. Oh, don't worry about the non-existent thing, I've got this covered: I'll maintain the illusion of democratic principle by forming a totally imaginary alliance with the Te Henga Section of the Marxist Nurses' Union. Who knows where this will lead NZNO. Be aware of potent free-thought stirring in your midst!
So I suppose I should create some imaginary founding members also... I might mull this one over for a while... What's a standard quorum? Eleven minimum isn't it? Perhaps I could bribe The Henry Bennett Centre Staff soccer team?.... No they're all in the PSA... Anyway the germ of an idea is rising out of all this preamble as it often does for me, and that is to tell the story of each file on 'The List' in much the same way as I will shortly tell the story of my encounters with 'The Serious Fraud Office' in this tale. So onward...
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The List
At the head of this page is a redoubtable inventory of Offices and Agencies who essentially exist to ensure that the Rights of New Zealanders are upheld. ( with the exception of Nursing Colleges and McKesson NZ of course!) I have been in protracted correspondence with each: some for a number of years.
All communications have been professionally conducted and are available for scrutiny.
Throughout this time I have suffered stress-related illness, spending a considerable time in hospital,
and I have been unable to work.
This has not impaired my ability to communicate and function in the role of a Nurse Advocate.
About half-way through this marathon, in fact as I approached bankruptcy, I became aware that Nursing Council must be paying a lot of money for 'Legal Services', with the sole aim of denying my Legal Rights and those of the patient for whom I was acting as an Advocate. This was being achieved by a contrived process of Administrative Injustice, engineered and controlled by The Registrar of Nursing Council and the Lawyers.
At this time I had approached a number of Ministries, Offices and Agencies regarding the illegal behaviour of NC, none of whom had the mandate to intervene, each politely and sympathetically directing me in a circular direction. Needless to say I encountered several of these agencies... a number of times.
I had meetings with:
The Hon. Annette King Minister of Health
Helen Cull QC Chief Advisor to District Inspectors
Mary O Hagan Mental Health Commissioner.
The Hon Steve Chadwick Associate Minister of Health
*Charlie Musselwhite
After professionally following all 'correct procedures and processes' I was getting nowhere. I was being passed around in an administrative quagmire: A stagnant swamp of bureaucracy: A fetid choking trammel that saps the life out of people. My health is suffering... I'm staying on top of it, but it is requiring some serious management... I have to break out of this exhausting futility...'.
I review my situation. It's become far too complex. It is so difficult to explain to anybody who hasn't got a a spare 4-5hrs... And it's a strictly no go area for my close friends if I want to keep treasured friendships... The whole farce has gone on for six years now... so many agencies involved... I need to deconstruct... break it down... make it simple.
What is this actually about now?
I'll try the Reflective Practice Approach;
So here am I :
- A Nurse seeking a 'Fair Go' from Nursing Council.
- I have been acting as an Advocate for a man who didn't get a fair go... and I want NC to conduct the investigation they are duty bound by Law to carry out. And have been since the incident in 2003
- Nursing Council however are paying Lawyers to deny 'Fairness,' and the individual Rights of both the patient and myself, by ensuring that such an investigation does not happen, and it seems have been doing so since 2004
- What's more... the cash that pays the Lawyers to prevent us from getting a Fair Go comes from: Nurse's Registration fees!
Oh Woe! All those hard-earned nursing dollars into the coffers of Lawyers... Sackcloth and ashes...!
Oh sudden blinding flash of insight!... My own profession is financing my planned downfall!....
I know that I've upset a few Nurse career-climbers in my time, perhaps even the odd student....
but I didn't think I'd got offside with the whole fifty thousand workforce!
No, clearly this is happening without their knowledge... So doesn't that makes it even worse!
This has got to be bent! It's not right! This is most seriously out of kilter . It's crooked.
It has to criminal. Fraudulent. There is nothing for it. Drastic situations call for drastic interventions...
I'll have to go in under-cover... I'll adopt a false persona, a disguise and approach:
The Serious Fraud Office.
: as Mystery Muso!
So after doing a three day reconnaissance of the 'comings and goings' in Willis St , disguised as a street busker by day and blanket man by night,... I decided to return to Hutt Valley Park camping grounds to do some serious homework and check out The Serious Fraud Office Website.
It looked promising at first... Yup.. as you'd expect there are a number of 'criteria' you have to demonstrate in order to get passed first-base. Hmm... the minimum amount 'being fiddled' has to be $500,000... that could be stretching it a bit.. ...Mind you, I've had a taste of Lawyer's fees... and with expense accounts like Mathew McClelland probably has?... Got to be close enough. With a little room for innovative interpretation, a little flexibility here and there, all other criteria are applicable, not just 1 or 2!
My basic arguments are solid and clearly evidenced. The principles behind them are sound enough. So desperate to find some avenue of accountability, I painstakingly correlate my screeds of written evidence: Legal testimony: Police reports: Audio tapes etc. Write it all up and post it off.
2006
To The Complaints Officer of the Serious Fraud Office:
Dear Sir,
I wish to lay a complaint with your Office:
I allege that serious breaches of the Law have been perpetrated by The Nursing Council of New Zealand
in that The Chief Executive Officer Marion Clarke, and The Legal Advisors: Sarah Kennedy and Clare Prendergast:
- Deliberately withheld clinical information and a number of Complaints from The Offices of the Health and Disability Commissioner, rendering it impossible for that Office to make informed judgment.
- I will evidence that this was a contrived strategy, carried out over a period of at least 9 months, aimed at preventing a full enquiry into the incident by The Health and Disability Commissioner.
- In so withholding this information Nursing Council breached the Rights of the Consumer, Mr. xxxxxxxx (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment Act 1992.)
- I will demonstrate that by failing to investigate the professional conduct of three Duly Authorised Officers involved in the incident, Nursing Council are in serious breach of the Compulsory Assessment and Treatment Act 1992, The Human Rights Act, and The Health and Disability Commissioners Act 1990
* Note:
The incident in question involved a very real threat to the safety of a client, the police at the scene,
and me. The 3 DAOs subject to my complaints over two years ago, who were responsible for the
Core Service failure which caused the incident, have continued to practice as Reg Nurses and DAOs.
Nursing Council is responsible for the governance and regulation of the NZ Nursing profession, a workforce of some 50,000 people. The professional conduct of Nursing Council betrays both the Nursing Profession, and the NZ general public by failing to expedite their primary purpose:
To Protect the Health and Safety of the NZ public. (NZ Nurses' Act 1977)
In presenting my request for an investigation I will use the factors and criteria you consider when selecting a case to pursue:
Factors:
* The suspected nature and consequences of the fraud.
I suspect that Nursing Council have acted to secure my De-Registration as a nurse. I suspect that their motivations for doing so are political not professional. The consequences of this by implication are manifest, both for my profession and for the ongoing health and safety of the NZ public.
* The suspected scale of the fraud
At present I will evidence fraud involving 3 members of Nursing Council. There is a potential for this to extend into further complicity, involving interests both inside and outside Nursing Council.
* The legal, factual and evidential complexity of the matter.
My journey through Nursing Council disciplinary procedures has taken over 2 yrs so far. My endeavors to have my professional concerns addressed have gone on for over 3yrs. There has been copious communication between myself and relevant agencies which in itself creates a degree of complexity. I have however been both professional and diligent in recording and organizing the same.
There have been a number of legal complexities I have encountered along the way which are self evident in legal transcripts of process . There will be little dispute of fact in my case. The essential facts are evidenced in legal transcripts, formal communications, audio tapes etc.
* Any relevant public interest consideration
The implications for the NZ public and the quality of Health-care they receive, are profound. In particular consumer's of mental health services are seriously disadvantaged.
* All fraud involving over $500,000
The legal expenses and other expenses incurred by Nursing Council in their prosecution of me, and the subsequent Appeal Court costs may well exceed this figure. This is Nurses Registration fees, and taxpayers money.
* All fraud perpetrated by complex means
The extended time frame, the conspiratorial behaviour of those involved, the historical evidence I will present, all bear testament to the complexities.
* Any fraud likely to be of public interest or concern.
The High Office of Nursing Council and the incumbent responsibilities demands competence and integrity. It is a professional body generally held both in trust and esteem by the NZ public. The evidenced conduct of this august body will be of great concern to the NZ public.
The docs. attached serve only as an overview of relevant evidence at this time, as I wish to authenticate my complaint. I can further explain my situation personally and will make myself available for interview at your convenience. I will present all of my evidence, or specific evidence as you request, subsequent to your response to this initial communication.
2) The evidence is presented e/mail in attachments. although hard copy is available . Most documents are in Word or Adobe Acrobat. There will be one audio file and perhaps a few in Microsoft Picture it.
Yours Sincerely,
Brian Stabb
(anec) Note:
The response was quick and I had a few long telephone conversations with Ian Varley of the Serious Fraud Office He had examined my evidence. He took time to work though each point, clarifying his role, expressing some sympathy with my predicament, making some suggestions. He was pleasant mannered, good humoured, and upon reflection he gave me excellent advice.
I remember one particularly piece of 'tongue in cheek' going something like this:
V... and so many of the cases we deal with involve vast sums of money... serious crimes against the public and the state...
S ...Yes , I understand that but...
V ... Look mate..., We don't mess about.... We arrest people... That's what we do.
S ... Yes. (silence)
V ... You want me to arrest The Nursing Council?
S... If that's what you do.
V... I can't do that...
S... Why?.
V... Because it would be like arresting the Salvation Army.
S... No it wouldn't... there's only twelve on Nursing Council.
V... You really want me to arrest the Nursing Council?
S... Yes please... manacled together... and marched down Willis St ...passed NZNO Offices... to Police Central would best...
Sometimes the shared acceptance of absurdity and the celebration of it in humour is a great comfort. It dulls disappointment and the betrayal of trust. It brings a perspective to 'hopelessness' which has none.
BS
* Charlie Musselwhite .
(anoveranec) Note.
Why did I put Charlie on my list of important meetings?.
Because this was by far my most important meeting for many years. On my list of preferred names to drop, he beats everybody else hands down... One particular week shortly after my loss in High Court I was suffering a bit, convinced life was a complete sack of dung, when I was given a most timely reminder that life is also full of magic moments... which leave you glowing warm for ages.
I have had to visit Wellington a number of times for Court appearances, and on one occasion a good friend treated me to a front row seat at the Opera House to see Charlie Musselwhite, an all time favourite blues harpist I've followed since I was a teenager in a Liverpool rock n roll Band... (in his seventies now... he's even played with Elvis!) It was a marvelous concert, He had a superb blues-band and female vocalist with him: The Opera House is a magnificent sound venue, and it was a terrific way to finish what had been a very stressful week.
Being in the truck I decided to cruise back to Hamilton over the week-end, as the weather was beautiful and there was snow on the mountain. My odd life style does allow for such a process of winding-down, and there is nothing like a bingy frosty tour of central north island hot pools. So I stopped and lolled about at Tokaanu pools ..and then moved on to Taupo and splashed about there... by which time I was feeling very clean and loose... words were coming easy as I recorded the events of the previous week.
I sometimes play guitar at The Fuse Bar in Rotorua on a Tuesday night... and the old Municipal Camp Site has the oldest, smelliest ,free and best hot pools in the world. Furthermore in the off-season I can park my truck up against the gate of the pools, and sprint the five metres from gas heater to hot water before the frost penetrates... even more luxurious the return trip.
So I park up early afternoon; soak for an hour or so... spruce up and hit town. The Fuse Bar is a good venue for music and I soon renew acquaintance with some old friends... the music starts about 9-ish and is becoming most agreeable, when who should walk in but Charlie Musselwhite. He is staying in Rotorua with a friend, heard that there was a Blues Club in town, so thought he'd pop in and have a jam with the locals. To cut a long story short. I got to play blues with him. Charlie (we are on first name terms now of course...) played harmonica... and I played guitar I played the blues with Charlie Musselwhite. Sweet, sweet moments of life.
With regard to the development of this page... The Serious Fraud Office is one of the smallest files on the list. As I say, each file has its own story, and I could gradually write them up in much the same fashion as I have done this one:... Material for the Academy of Conspiracy Evidentialism.
Alternatively for the sake of serious research ( and there is some urgency to address these issues after all..) the data is all valid, and in the form of legal testimony, transcripts, and audio tapes etc... perhaps I should make all material available on request?... I welcome suggestions and possible legal problems I may encounter.
With regard to the legalities of what I'm doing:
In 2004 it was ordered by The Ombudsmen's Office, via Nursing Council that the matter of the Registration / De-Registration of Nurse Brian Stabb was to be public knowledge. Overtime I will publish the stories of each of the files on the list on my Website: At the same time making available by download, the evidence within each file. It is my sincere belief that by following this process I am exercising my right of academic freedom and freedom of speech, without defaming anybody or any organization.
The problems I anticipate are mass incredulity flavoured with a modicum of apathy and a general disinclination to change the status quo.
Nobody wants to know that such a respected institution as Nursing Council can be corrupt. Perhaps we forget that it is Statutory Body of Law, and as such must adhere to certain codes of conduct. Nobody wants to know it seems... leastwise if they do, nobody has told me. It amazes me sometimes, because this really isn't the 'Kiwi-Way' I have grown to so value, cherish, and respect... It isn't typical... What is happening to us?
Nobody wants to know... Ministers... Commissioners... Human Rights Advocates... perhaps most of all Nurses themselves... although since I returned to Nursing I can understand my profession being simply too exhausted, so stressed by the demands on them, that they are simply not able to contribute any energy to such issues.
In fact I wish that I didn't know Nursing Council are corrupt.
I wish I could have that particular bit of memory wiped clean... reprogrammed back to innocent naive trust. Trouble is I've never had the ability or inclination to 'not know' something that I know... and so of course ethics and morality kick in and rightly so.
Whether individuals want to know or not, the public and the profession should have access to such information, and I believe I have the right, perhaps a professional duty (not sorted that one yet... ) to put it out there . As I have asked earlier in my website: As a Registered Nurse when do I withdraw Advocacy?
And yes... With regard to this particular story... I suppose there is a 'tongue in cheek' flavour to it... 'Serious Fraud Office and all'... but it does make some good points all the same. Worth a try.
The profession of Nursing relies upon the integrity, wisdom vision and knowledge of Council to plan the education of our future Nurses :To plan and implement Competency Assessment and judge Registered Nurse Practice: To model the professional, ethical, and legal obligations of all Registered Nurses. To promote modern Nursing Theory, Caring, and the philosophical core of our profession. To function within the parameters of lawfulness.
To seek advice from Lawyers who are fully competent and recognize the dictates of the Compulsory Assessment and Treatment Act, the requirements of the Health and Disability Commissioners Act, and most of all the integral nature of Human Rights legislation and Nursing Practice, especially when dealing with complaints about Duly Authorised Officers, and the loss of individual freedoms. Most of all we rely on Nursing Council to protect the health and safety of the New Zealand public...
I believe the betrayal of trust, and the protracted ongoing refusal to follow Fair and Just process by Nursing Council, to be far worse than the crimes committed by Taito Philip Fields .and he got six years... poor bloke, I feel for him.
Maybe I'll be joining him after this publication.
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