Page 1033 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 28 March 1990
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importantly, it addresses years of neglect of that system by successive Commonwealth Governments, and that is one thing that really cannot be said for any of the alternatives. This plan faces up to the realities we now face in the ACT hospital system. Most importantly, it does two things at the same time: it reduces the cost of running that system, as well as saving capital costs, and, despite that cut, at the same time it improves the quality of health care being provided to the people of Canberra. That is a quite extraordinary combination of successful outcomes, I would suggest.
Of course, the Opposition is taking the easy option - "Let's cause alarm; let's tell people what a disaster it is going to be for Canberra; let's wring our hands and generate fear and loathing in the community". The reality is that that Opposition response is predictable, but not excusable.
Let us look at what Opposition members have been saying in the last 24 hours. In a press release yesterday, Mr Berry claimed that we were going to sell off the Acton Peninsula. That is untrue. It has also been said that the range of birthing options is being reduced by the Government's plan. That is untrue. The Government is privatising health services in the ACT - untrue. A birthing centre will be part of a private hospital - untrue. You did not say anything about that, did you, Mr Berry? There are private obstetric beds in public hospitals in Canberra - untrue.
Mr Berry: I did not say that.
MR HUMPHRIES: Well, Mrs Grassby did. We intend to reduce the number of public beds in the hospital system - untrue. Calvary is an inadequate place to conduct a range of hospital services - untrue. The people of north Canberra will lose present access to general hospital facilities as a result of these plans - untrue.
I am very flattered that so many untrue things need to be said so that Opposition members can find something to say about our hospital plan; it is extremely flattering and I am very impressed that we have been able to generate such hysteria and panic among them.
When the ACT got self-government in 1989, it inherited a hospital system which was, to say the least, run down. It was in serious need of injections of funds. That reality has to be contrasted with the statements made by Mr Berry when he was Minister for Health. He kept calling it a first-class hospital system, and so it was in certain limited respects. But overall, our hospital system was not first-class then and it is not now. It is a system which is run down and in need of serious injections of funds. The evidence of that fact is that two of the three public hospitals in the ACT, in the course of the past 12 months, have lost their accreditation. That does not mean they cannot operate as hospitals, but it does mean there is a serious problem with our hospital system.
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