Page 5118 - Week 17 - Wednesday, 12 December 1990
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Mr Duby: Oh, no.
MR BERRY: Mr Duby cries out, "Oh, no". That means that Mr Duby has not really been watching what the Minister responsible for health is doing. All he has been doing, Mr Speaker, is listening to the rhetoric. All he would have to do is consult the hospital waiting lists to see that there were 1,400 people waiting for elective surgery at the end of September, a 40 per cent blow-out above that which was fostered by the Labor Party. He would only have to talk to obstetric nurses and obstetricians to understand that the Government's proposed new obstetrics block is inadequate, and there are many other areas where Mr Duby would find plenty of evidence that under this Government's stewardship public hospitals are in trouble.
This piece of legislation, Mr Speaker, is another area of trouble for the hospital services because it is, in many ways, inadequate. On that basis the Labor Opposition opposes the Bill and we will be seeking to make a number of substantial amendments to the Bill to rectify the very deep flaws in the content of that proposed legislation. This Government is a government that, when in opposition - and I talk about the health Minister and the Chief Minister in particular - screamed loud and long about the future of the then Interim Hospitals Board when its term was about to expire. Is it not amazing that shortly after those people came into government they sacked the Interim Hospitals Board and replaced it with another one; yet, that board whose term was due to expire in December last year was never intended to go beyond that point, and when the Government - - -
Mr Humphries: Not by you, it was not.
MR BERRY: Mr Humphries said, "Not by you, it was not", referring to me, Mr Speaker. Might I remind Mr Humphries that the architects of that board did not intend for it to go beyond December last year, and that it was most appropriate that the board finish its term of office as was originally designed.
Of course, it was most appropriate for the people of the ACT to expect a consultative model, a consultative model for its hospital services, when self-government came to this city, because most of the parties which were elected and which had any policies at all related to the delivery of services in this Territory said that they would consult with the community on a whole range of matters, not the least of which were the hospital services.
The Residents Rally, of course, said that; but we have learnt through constant experience that the Residents Rally does not often stick to that which it promises. The members of the misnamed Liberal Party pretend that they are something else at election time, that they are all things to all people; but, of course, always immediately after the election the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde image of the Liberal
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