Page 994 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 28 March 1990
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the very great loving care shown towards women in Calvary Hospital, whatever medical problems they may have.
MR COLLAERY (Attorney-General) (11.36): I rise to support the amended motion moved by my colleague Mr Humphries. I listened with interest to his speech on this subject, and I believe it was well-balanced and well-argued.
In reply there was a quantity of anecdotal suggestions, some coming from Mr Moore and some from Mrs Grassby. In several cases the anecdotes were preceded by, in Mr Moore's case, the words "most prefer" something; "Calvary is unacceptable to a large number of people"; and Mrs Grassby referred in support of one of her propositions to "most women". I think we should be very careful about assumptions of that nature.
I went - and I must acknowledge that Mr Berry was there too - to a seminar put on by the ACT for Birth group on 24 February 1990 at University House on a Saturday. I was very proud to see Ms Carmel Maher sitting up there with noted speakers from around the country. I was very proud to see self-government represented there and I was very proud to hear her speak. I thought it did her less than justice for the first speaker, Mr Berry, who is aware of Ms Maher's clear personal commitment on this topic, to put her down in the manner he did. I think it ill behoves Mr Berry to do that because clearly he is committed himself. He was there too and he took the opportunity to use his knowledge acquired at that day seminar to put out a press release that was reported in the Canberra Chronicle on 6 March 1990. He is quoted by that newspaper as supporting the need for a birthing centre and supporting the need for integrated antenatal and postnatal services to be addressed. We have done that.
Mr Berry: You have not.
MR COLLAERY: We heard some pious words about bipartisanship. This Government has done it. We have done it. We have met the clearly expressed and intelligently argued case put forward for a birthing centre in the ACT. The five characteristics of a birthing centre relate to location, philosophy of care, client eligibility, independence and provision of antenatal care. Clearly this Government has committed itself on the subject of client availability and to import an ideological block to this debate once again, to suggest that somehow this Government is selling out to some form of ogre that some people on the other side of the house see really denigrates the debate. This is an achievement of self-government. This is an achievement of the Assembly, an achievement of those in the Assembly who work towards securing a better range of obstetric options for women in the ACT.
The caesarean rate in the ACT in 1987 was 20 per cent. The World Health Organisation recommends that it should not be more than 10 or 15 per cent. I have been involved in
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