Page 1030 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 28 March 1990
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signed petitions which were brought to this Assembly. There were public meetings in support of the retention of the Royal Canberra Hospital and I mentioned a moment ago how Dr Kinloch publicly supported the retention and an expanded role of that hospital.
How does he explain away to his constituents his actions in respect of Royal Canberra Hospital now? Already today I have had concerned phone calls from people who say they want to go to a hospital like Royal Canberra. They remember the view over the lake - we have all heard this argument in favour of the hospital before.
Another issue is the location of future services so that they can be delivered where they are required, and it is important that we retain flexible options for our community assets - our hospitals. It is not good enough to announce the collocation of services - for example, a nursing home, a birth centre, Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Home for Nursing Mothers - as an excuse to abandon one of our prime hospitals. The use of general hospital facilities to house these specialised services is a joke. It would require an entire infrastructure redesign with resulting costs which would justify demolishing the entire complex. That is what the people of Canberra will be worried about - the future.
This goes back to a point which I raised this morning. This is a long haul project and some of the people opposite might not be concerned about the long haul. It is the future that I am worried about because the Liberal constituent of the Government opposite is about privatisation. Members must never let that fact out of their minds. This is about dodging the appropriate taxes for business mates in the long haul, winding back public hospital services and handing them over to the private sector where they will be controlled by the medical aristocrats.
The issue of closing down Royal Canberra Hospital is one of great concern for every citizen in this Territory. It highlights the cavalier way in which this Government handles its responsibilities, the contempt in which it holds the community, its bias towards big business and, most importantly, its lack of concern for the future of Canberra. The furore over the closure of Royal Canberra Hospital hides the real concern, the major problem of the plan and the giant con being perpetrated by this Government against the people of Canberra.
The giant con - what do you think that is? It is the assertion that members of this Government are economically literate, that they are fiscally responsible and that they will save community money while delivering a full, first-class health service. They have tried to pull the wool over the eyes of the people of Canberra, but members on this side of the house will make sure that everyone knows the truth.
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