Page 4414 - Week 15 - Wednesday, 21 November 1990
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do that. And because of his ineptitude and his lack of resolution he had to say, "I will have to give that away, I cannot go the whole hog with that. I will have to spend an extra $50m" - $50m that this Territory does not have - "to retain a public hospital facility with beds surplus to the requirements of the public hospital system". That is what Mr Berry had to do because he could not do otherwise. He could not make up his mind otherwise.
I think that in the circumstances this Government deserves commendation for its handling of the public hospital system in the ACT. We have achieved a great deal in the last few months. We have set a number of important goals for that public hospital system and we are beginning to achieve those goals. In the next few weeks, work will begin on the new obstetrics block at the principal hospital at Royal Canberra Hospital South.
Mr Connolly: We will see what the doctors say about that.
MR HUMPHRIES: For your information, Mr Connolly, the doctors have, for the most part, agreed with the features of those systems. Obviously there are going to be some dissenting voices, but most of the people agree with most of the features of that new obstetrics block. I think it is a very positive development for achieving better services in the area of obstetrics. As part of that obstetrics service this Government will be establishing a birthing centre for the first time in the ACT. This Government will also be establishing a public hospice for the first time, a hospice available to treat the dying. That is a facility which previous governments, including Mr Berry's, have not been able to get around to providing, but this Government can.
Mr Berry complains about the private hospital going in at Lake Ginninderra. Mr Berry, again, has selective amnesia about these things. Mr Berry has pretended that the trebling of private hospital beds under the Federal Labor Government in 1986 is some kind of aberration which can be explained away. Mr Berry, it cannot. It cannot be explained away.
Mr Berry: How many of them were used?
MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Berry falls back on another observation, that, notwithstanding the authorisation of the creation of certain beds, naturally some of those beds will not actually be required or possibly might not be required - - -
Mr Berry: There is no demand. People do not want them.
MR HUMPHRIES: Why does he imagine that the situation is any different under this Government? Why does he imagine that the approval for 150 beds means that someone necessarily has to operate every single one of those 150 beds? The fact of life is that there is no such
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