I wish to advise you of some recent events within the College that I view with concern. While issues will always arise in an organisation the size and complexity of ours, this is a matter that I feel the Fellowship at large should be informed about.

Some of you may be aware that internal College working documents regarding climate change were released by a person or persons unknown to the online media publisher Crikey, which published an article critical of the College’s media statements on climate change. This has been damaging to the reputation of the College and negative coverage such as this only undermines our hard work and hinders what we are all trying to achieve.

The background to this is that a number of Fellows who were concerned about the health impacts of climate change formed a group within the College. Several weeks ago this group requested that a draft media statement which they had prepared, be released by the College. As President and designated spokesperson of the College for media inquiries, I reviewed the draft prior to its release.

Whilst I agreed with most of its content, even in the absence of a College policy on climate change, I requested that several changes be made to the draft. The changes that I requested were to place greater emphasis on the  transitional impacts that any carbon pricing legislation may have on vulnerable patients.

Some of the Fellows involved with the climate change  group and others did not agree with the initial College media release on climate change and the changes that I made. Currently in Australia the most widely used strategy to deal with the climate change issue is to treat it as a “hot” political issue that is divisive and partisan.

I considered it essential that any statement from the College did not seemingly align the College with any political party. Also that the College did not get into areas such as taxation, which is outside our area of expertise. It is important to point out that, as President, I instructed the amendment of the draft release submitted to me by the working group to avoid these issues.

The priority for the College in any public statement must be the well being of patients, their families and  the community, particularly the most vulnerable members of the  community. The College issued two public  statements on climate change dated May 2, 2011 and May 20 2011, both of which attracted media coverage, copies of which I attach. The RACP is the  only Australasian College to have made statements on climate change.

I wish to make clear a few points regarding the College’s position on Climate Change:

  • The College’s  position on climate change reflects the Lancet Commission Report  findings that there are health impacts from climate change. The College recognises the adverse health impact of climate change, as contained in  our media releases of 2009, 4 May and 20 May 2011.
  • The College  confirms its support, and continues to publicly advocate for, urgent action on climate change. This is stated in our media releases of 2009, 4 May and 20 May 2011.
  • The College does  not have a view on the preferred model for pricing carbon whether this be a carbon tax, an emissions trading scheme or any other mechanism.
  • The Climate and  Health Alliance (“CAHA”,) of which the College is a member, acknowledges  that the Australian community favors actions to address climate change  that consider any negative consequences of pricing models on the most  disadvantaged in our community, including the poor and the sick.
  • The College is  working with the Australian Government on the health component of the  proposed compensation package.

These points have been made repeatedly in RACP media statements but have seemingly been lost in relation to recent events. What was most disappointing  about these recent events was that individuals chose to discuss internal  processes in the public domain and that internal working documents,  including a letter of resignation, were leaked to the media. Such activities are contrary to the RACP Code of Conduct including that of confidentiality.

As a result of our releases, the College is now working with the Australian Government providing advice on energy intensive home based treatments, such as dialysis, home oxygen and sleep apnoea (CPAP) devices, that should be taken into account so that appropriate compensation for any rise in power costs resulting from a price on carbon can be determined. This is a significant measure for patients and an important consideration for the successful introduction of legislative measures to address the impacts of climate change.

The  Australian Government has established a working group to determine the details of the carbon pricing compensation package. Within the College there are 13,500 Fellows, with widely differing views on many issues. It is not appropriate for public releases on important matters such as this to be developed without appropriate consultation and involvement of other groups within the College. Ultimately everyone has the right to speak out as an individual on any issue; however, we owe it to each other to be inclusive and to recognise that sometimes in reaching a consensus we all need to compromise to some extent.

It is important that the College operates cohesively and strategically on these issues. Recently the College Board reaffirmed that comments or public statements made on behalf of the College can only be authorised by the President or President Elect. This in no way removes the right of any Fellow to speak out in their capacity as an individual or a representative of another unaffiliated organization, on any issue. Please be assured that, as  President, I take very seriously my responsibility to ensure the views of  the whole Fellowship are at all times represented fairly.

Yours sincerely, John Kolbe