Page 715 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 12 March 1991
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In addition to the initial $171.8m, I have agreed to give the hospitals an extra $1.95m to cover additional wage costs. In addition to that there has been a shortfall in estimated direct hospital revenues of some $2.32m. That has been caused principally by a drop in the number of privately insured patients as compared with the original expectation. Obviously, since we offset their direct revenues against the money that we take out of Consolidated Revenue, if their revenue projections are not met we have to supplement that to cover the cost of running the hospitals. That, again, is something that I accept as being reasonable. These matters are beyond management control and supplementation of $4.27m will be provided to their budget to cover those two items.
Mr Berry: You did not even know about it. On the 19th you did not know; on the 21st you did not know.
MR KAINE: We have the great hospital budgeter over here muttering away. He never understood the budget when he had control, but he now pretends to tell me about mine.
Mr Connolly: You would do well to listen.
Mr Berry: We uncovered the mess for you and you still dropped the ball.
MR SPEAKER: Order!
MR KAINE: Have you finished? Can I continue?
Mr Berry: No, I am not finished.
MR KAINE: Well, you are; you might as well acknowledge it.
With this supplementation, Mr Speaker, the revised budget allocation will increase to $176.8m. I repeat that these are normal adjustments that any government would expect to make to a budget over the course of a year. Our Treasury was recently advised by the Health Department that they now estimate their expenditure from the consolidated fund this year at $184.2m. That is a difference of $7.4m from the revised allocation. That is a Health Department ambit claim.
Mr Moore: We are already $7.2m over and now they are going to claim that by the end of the year it will be only $7.4m.
MR KAINE: Listen carefully. As Treasurer, I have not accepted the revised estimate.
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