Page 5163 - Week 17 - Thursday, 13 December 1990
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We have a particular possibility here, a particular opportunity to ensure and to make clear that that does not happen. The most significant part of this amendment is that it provides a clear direction that that will not happen. I would have thought that I would hear some other members of the Alliance stand and talk about this. But I suggest that they probably have not even read the damn thing. It seems to me that there are a number of indications that the Residents Rally members, certainly, have not read the particular Bill and are just going holus-bolus along with what is there - but I shall get back to that when we deal with clause 17.
There is an opportunity here for the Alliance to improve their social justice image - or to start to gain a social justice image. The way they can do that is to support the amendment that Mr Berry has moved. The Chief Minister, who at least supports his Minister - and at least there is somebody in the ministry that supports the Health Minister - - -
Mr Wood: Reassuring.
MR MOORE: Very reassuring. But both of them are going to be away shortly, so we wonder what is likely to happen then. It would seem to me that we have an opportunity for the Alliance to make some attempt to take a broad approach to social justice issues instead of trying to deal with them in an ad hoc manner.
MR HUMPHRIES (Minister for Health, Education and the Arts) (11.18): I do not think there is much more to contribute to this debate, Mr Speaker, but I will say just a couple of short things about comments from Mr Berry and Mr Moore. Mr Berry continues to put forward the idea that there is some secret agenda in the Government's plans. I have to ask him what secret agenda was present in the New South Wales Government's plans when it made legislation in similar terms. But, as I said before, he obviously sees such provisions as being trustworthy in the hands of a Labor government but not trustworthy in the hands of another government.
Mr Berry put his finger right on the illogicality of his position a few minutes ago when he said that the New South Wales area health boards do not provide ambulance services, and that is why it was not in the legislation. The first point you might make about that is that there are other services that are under the aegis of area health boards; why were they not set out in the legislation? Mr Berry glossed over that particular point.
There are some services which are provided by New South Wales area health boards, things such as ambulances. But they can be provided by people other than area health boards, or in this case by the ACT Board of Health. That
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