Page 1038 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 28 March 1990
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MS FOLLETT: Will you bring that man to order, Mr Deputy Speaker?
MR DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes. Order, Mr Jensen!
MS FOLLETT: Thank you. As I said, Mr Deputy Speaker, we start with that common ground, that the system that we inherited was very much in need of care and attention, of upgrading and, of course, of large expenditure. That fact is reflected in the approach that I made to the Prime Minister for some compensation in order to allow us to get our hospital system into order. I recall in the Assembly this week that Mr Kaine has reiterated that call to the Prime Minister for some funding assistance, and I hope that he will continue to do so.
On 31 October last year, the Labor Government brought down a plan for the health system in the ACT which included the retention of Royal Canberra Hospital. Just to refresh members' memories, at that time we had costed that retention and the upgrading of the hospital system at around $210m - a cost that we proposed to spread over seven years, and a cost which would have been borne, had additional funds not been available from the Commonwealth, from the ACT's own capital works budget. So it would have cost us about $30m a year.
That commitment, Mr Deputy Speaker, reflected our priorities to the ACT community. Our priority was that the Government provide - as we believe is its responsibility - a viable public health system. I would like it placed on the record that that was our position on Royal Canberra Hospital.
We had a long term and comprehensive plan for the ACT public health system and I think it is very important to note that our proposal was in fact to build on the strength of the system. Royal Canberra Hospital is very much a strength of Canberra's health system. It is a hospital which has the confidence of Canberra people, a hospital which in fact has the affection of the vast majority of Canberra people, and as such we had decided, in keeping with our election commitment, to retain Royal Canberra Hospital.
We know of course that members of the Alliance Government gave that same commitment and it was worthless. Their commitment on this matter, as on so many other matters, was hollow, an absolute sham.
The commitment that the Labor team made did not have a short time frame and it was not based on projections, say, five or 10 years out. I do not think it is responsible to say that you are going to spend five years restructuring the health system and then that will be that, it is all right after that. You cannot say that, it just is not so. You need to base your planning on the projected needs at least 10 to 20 years into the future.
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