Page 1646 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 30 April 1991
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MR KAINE: I withdraw that, Mr Speaker; but I think that Mrs Grassby would have done herself a great service if she had read the letter rather than implying that there was something dishonest in my actions. That is what she was implying, and that is why I am on my feet making a personal explanation.
Mr Speaker, I now have the letter, and the facts were - - -
Mr Berry: "I do not think this would be a good time to have such a review."
MR SPEAKER: Order, Mr Berry!
MR KAINE: And I gave the reason why, Mr Berry. Read the rest of it. I was asked to provide assistance to review the base funding level. As pointed out in the first paragraph of this letter, we had already only recently increased the base funding level. My letter then goes on, and I say, "You are now seeking a further review of the base funding level". Since we had only just done it, I rejected that request. But I did say, reading further on, that I would make the assistance available, except that I suggested that it should be directed towards Calvary Hospital, not towards Royal Canberra.
So, the explanation is fully in the letter. I was asked for assistance to do what had only just recently been done and I said, "I do not believe that it needs to be done again", which is a fair statement.
Mr Berry: I do not think you said that.
MR KAINE: I did. Read it. I did say that.
MR SPEAKER: Order, Mr Berry!
MR KAINE: They do not even want to hear what is actually in the letter that they tabled. I am telling you what is in there. It was misrepresented as saying that I had somehow refused to provide reasonable assistance for the hospitals. I did no such thing. I simply declined to provide people to do a job that had only recently been done - a very logical, reasonable approach. But I did, as an alternative, suggest that I could make staff available to examine the funding base for Calvary Hospital - a very reasonable proposal. It is not true, as asserted or insinuated by Mrs Grassby, that I simply refused to make help available, and gave no explanation. The explanation is in the letter, Mr Speaker, and I refute any implication on Mrs Grassby's part that I was somehow remiss in this matter. I was not.
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