Page 3327 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 18 September 1990
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me in the days when we were debating in public fora the school closures issue, but she will recall those occasions when we did share a platform. She will recall that one of the frequent requests, the frequent demands, made by people at those public meetings was that we as a Government should get into the business of looking at the size of our bureaucracy. It was a consistent theme at every public meeting I attended.
I think that those meetings which were not attended by Ms Follett were attended by other members of the Opposition and they can verify that it was a consistent theme. "Do not cut schools", they said, "until you have looked at your own bureaucracy, until you have reduced the size of your public sector". That is what they said. Ms Follett, when she went to those public meetings, as I recall, tried to echo those claims. I can recall her comments at the Garran Primary School when people made the same assertion and she said, "Of course you must do that. You must look at the size of the public sector. We must ensure that we do not have waste in government". That is what she said.
But now she says the Government is hell-bent on attacking the public sector, privatising public services, slashing public sector jobs. In this place it is a different tune. In this place public sector jobs are sacred.
Mr Berry: Gary, can you come up with anything else but abuse? Why do you not deal with the issues in your portfolio area and the atrocities that you are committing on the health and education system - just atrocities?
MR HUMPHRIES: I think, frankly, that any government that comes into this place and inherits the responsibilities of governing the ACT and pretends that the level of public sector employment in this town provided by the ACT is satisfactory, is a fool. Such a government is foolish, because it is perfectly obvious that the ACT has to trim its sails. It has a work force which is not appropriate to the level of service that is being provided, and the level of waste is quite severe. I will give examples. Mr Berry wants some examples from my own portfolio. I will give some. The fact that level 3 and level 4 nurses in our public hospital system stand at three times the level - - - (Quorum formed)
I was referring to the situation in our public hospitals, with our level of nursing staff. The response to that level of nursing staff was criticised by the Opposition the other day. Apparently they could not find anything to say about it today when the report was actually tabled. We have the equivalent of something like 27 level 3 and level 4 nurses in the public hospital system. The Royal Adelaide Hospital, with the same number of beds and an equal if not greater level of complexity in the procedures conducted, has only nine. Why does the ACT need 27, and Royal Adelaide need only nine? Jindalee Nursing Home - - -
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