Page 1032 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 28 March 1990
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foisted on the citizens of Canberra but which, from the outset, reveals the real agenda of the Liberal Party - privatisation. He tries to conceal the real financial costs involved without addressing the social costs which would leave our health system crippled well into the next century. Labor's plan was to leave it in first-class condition well into the next century.
Mr Deputy Speaker, here we are on day two of the plan and already the four-bed birthing centre has imposed a significant reduction in the savings which Mr Humphries has quite wrongly claimed for the Territory. In the wake of the recent Federal election the interesting part about all of this is that Mr Humphries' plan for the redevelopment of Canberra's hospital system looks a little bit like the performance of Mr Shack - - -
Mr Kaine: Did you say Mr Sanders?
MR BERRY: Mr Shack - the person who was to deliver the Liberal Party's health policy.
What a shambles! Mr Humphries is Mr Shack the second. It is a fraud, an absolute fraud, and the costings are wildly out. At least Mr Shack had the courage to admit it and withdraw his plan. (Quorum formed)
I have run out of time, but I think I have pointed to all the issues which will embarrass the Liberal-Residents Rally-No Self Government Alliance. As I said before, at least Mr Shack had the courage to admit his mistakes and withdraw the plan. I call on Mr Humphries to do the same.
MR HUMPHRIES (Minister for Health, Education and the Arts) (3.46): I regret, Mr Deputy Speaker, that I cannot look embarrassed. Try as I might, I can only be embarrassed about the paucity of intelligence and good sense that Mr Berry has shown in the course of this debate. I have to say that that is a very sad reflection, particularly given the fact that the man is a former Minister for Health of this Territory. I am quite surprised that he does not have a better understanding of the issues in this case.
I said this morning that I was flattered that the Opposition chose to say things that were not true about the Government's proposal as a way of making a target that it could hit. The fact is that the Government's plan is self-contained, rational and logical. It is a sensible plan, given the present resources of the Territory and, in all those circumstances, it is not the least bit surprising that this time the Opposition needs to say things about the plan which are, frankly, untrue in order to create some kind of expectation that it is living up to its original position of supporting the retention of the Royal Canberra Hospital.
The fact is that our proposal for the development of the Canberra hospital system is exciting and innovative. Most
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