Page 1423 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 17 April 1991
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MR BERRY: That was "berry" good, was it not? So, there had been a change. On 13 March, the very next day, when asked by Labor in this house whether he had directed the board to relieve the Chief Executive of any of his statutory duties, the Minister answered, "No". So, they had taken away the control from the line managers but, according to the Minister, had not relieved the Chief Executive of any of his statutory duties. He advised the house that he was sure that he had acted within the terms of any legislation that governs the position of the Chief Executive. All of this comes from a Minister who only a short time earlier had said that there was no budget blow-out, but he had to admit a few days later, of course, that there was a blow-out. History now has that on record.
I have to say, Mr Speaker, that his response on the issue of compliance with the Health Services Act has the same hollow ring. It is unconvincing. It is as unconvincing as the Minister's refusal to accept that there were serious difficulties in the management of our hospital system - serious difficulties which have emerged not only in the area of budget and financial management but also in the area of delivery of services to the community. It is a matter of record, Mr Speaker, that this Minister is responsible for an ambulance service which does not provide adequate facilities to the people of the ACT, an ambulance service into which the Minister refuses to hold a public inquiry into to determine what level of services should be provided to the community.
He refuses to come out into the open on that, in much the same way as he was reluctant to come out into the open on the issue of the hospitals budget; but eventually that was uncovered and the lid blew off, in effect. This is the Minister who has been reluctant to keep the community informed about the performance of our hospitals, and this is the Minister who now seems to indicate that there will be a move to cover up the figures which represent the number of people who cannot get beds in our hospital system and to move to another system of counting, if we can call it that, which saves the Government from embarrassment. And all of that, Mr Speaker - - -
Mr Humphries: On a point of order, Mr Speaker: Mr Berry is straying onto his favourite subject that is not to do with the matter before the Assembly today. I would ask you to bring him into line in terms of relevance.
MR SPEAKER: Yes, I uphold that objection, Mr Humphries. I believe that you are straying from relevance at times, Mr Berry.
MR BERRY: Mr Speaker, indeed I have not strayed from the relevant issue because this issue is about the fees and charges made under the Health Services Act and, of course, it is about hospital services - points which I have raised in the course of debate, points which may be of
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