Page 5151 - Week 17 - Thursday, 13 December 1990
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
But it goes no further than that. It certainly falls well short of the comprehensive list of services provided under the old Act. What we set out to do is to include that comprehensive list of services, but at the same time not place any limitations on the provision of such extra services as might be provided by the board in its own right or by direction of the Minister. I note that the board is subject to the direction of Ministers and I have to say that I noted with some amusement the statement by the Minister in the in-principle debate on this Bill that it was important to have the management board at arm's length from the Government.
The fact of the matter is that this legislation makes it clear that the board is merely an arm of the Government because the board is unable to provide its services without the direction of the Minister. Under the heading "Powers", clause 7(3) states:
The Board shall exercise its powers in accordance with any directions given by the Minister.
So the Minister, of course, has some control over the services that will be provided by the board, but it is important that the Act ensures that the Minister is required to provide a detailed list of services. That is why the Labor Opposition has set out to ensure that the services to be provided under the Act are specified and that therefore the Minister is required to deliver those services.
It seems to me that if they are not listed the Minister can decide, in his wisdom or otherwise, to delete a whole range of services that would otherwise have been provided to the people of the ACT. I suspect that that might be behind this; the Minister might then be able to cut out the provision of services to the community. He may well decide that he does not want to provide an ambulance or other transport service, and there is no obligation under the Bill for him to do so. I suspect that the Minister will deny that he has any intention of doing that; but what we set out to do is to ensure that there is a list of required services to be provided under the Act, and the Minister will be limited in his discretion as to the effect that he might have on the withdrawal of those services.
The very clear setting out of the functions in the Act, of course, would require the Minister to ensure that those services continue to be provided to the people of the ACT, whereas in the case before us, under clause 6 of the Bill, the Minister is not obliged to provide some of the services which were listed under the Community and Health Service Act 1985. I think it would be a backward step for the Government not to include a comprehensive list of the services that the Board of Health is required to deliver to the people of the ACT.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .