Health Minister Tim Nicholls denies forcing abortion advocate Daile Kelleher from board

The updated Integrity Commissioner advice that Kelleher subsequently sought said the board had raised concerns about reputational risk, but also the risk of damage to its relationship with Nicholls.

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Kelleher said he was subject to intense scrutiny by the board, which he joined in April last year and which he believed was fearful of a change of government.

The recommendation, shared with this imprint, showed commissioner Linda Waugh finding the board had conflicts over how “subjects or decisions relating to abortion or sexual or reproductive health” could be governed.

Under a plan drawn up in December, Kelleher will be “quarantined” from such matters and will also be liaised with any planned public comments or activities. It was never confirmed by Nicholls.

In letters instructing Kelleher to “resolve” the conflict, which he considered unmanageable, Nicholls also said the call for a Churchill Scholarship was at odds with the government’s position.

“What will be done no change [to abortion laws] “During this government period,” he said.

A spokesperson for Nicholls declined to comment when first contacted by this imprint last week, citing an inability to comment on individual workplace matters.

But on Tuesday Nicholls said his job was to “ask people to resolve conflicts of interest”.

“I acted in accordance with the advice I received from the department, the legal advice I received… The legal advice was that Ms. Kelleher needed to resolve her conflicts of interest,” he said.

“He now had multiple options available to him, and he chose to resign. And that was the way to resolve this conflict of interest.”

In a statement to this imprint, Kelleher reiterated that he believed the available options were to either resign as chief executive of Sexual and Reproductive Health Australia or step down from his $44,000-a-year board role.

He said Nicholls’ claim that his job was to ask people to resolve conflicts was wrong, as it was his decision to think their conflicts were unmanageable and not to approve the management plan.

“I presented him with real options by presenting a management plan, and he supported me in a decision I had to make,” he said.

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“If the conflicts weren’t about abortion and this government’s political fear of reproductive rights, he would apply the same logic to other HHS board members, and the government would have zero health experts on its medical boards.”

Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Contacted on the issue, Transparency International Australia director general Clancy Moore said Queensland has long been a leader in transparency and honesty.

“[This includes] Moore proposed establishing the Integrity Commission model to advise on conflicts of interest and other ethical issues.

“Trust in our democracy is undermined when governments are seen appointing spouses to board positions or removing people with whom they disagree.”

Despite the LNP’s sweeping changes to other boards, revealed by this mastheadPreviously, health care directors could only be dismissed for reasons such as conviction, bankruptcy or incapacity.

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