Page 1659 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 30 April 1991
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The whole town, Mr Humphries, is asking, "When will you take some responsibility, take the full responsibility, for your portfolio?". You are the head of the health bureaucracy. Why do you want to pass the buck? In fact, you have taken up that sign that sits at the top of the table and that says, "The buck stops here", and you have thrown it into the wastepaper basket. You have offered up a scapegoat, you have made a sacrifice; but you will not accept responsibility. That is your answer to all this: "I have no responsibility". You say today: "I did not know". You are saying, "I, Mr Humphries, am ignorant of the most fundamental work of my department". His excuse, simply, is: "I did not know". That is the answer that he gives. He has not even asked the questions of his department that he should have. He is such a knowledgeable Minister that he does not stand up to his department and ask the questions. That is the case.
Mr Humphries: How do you know?
MR WOOD: Well, you did not get the answers, did you? You did not. You have not had the ability to determine where the problems are and to check them. The image of the Minister that was conveyed in the education debate is now clarified; he is a Minister who passively accepts what is fed to him. Where is there any leadership, direction or control from the Minister? It simply is not there.
The Minister gives an appearance of diligence; I have never argued about that. For example, I see his car here at the weekends and late into the night, but I do not know what he does. I assume that he is not sleeping on the premises. I do not think he is sleeping here. Perhaps he is learning how to make scones.
Mr Humphries: Come up and find out one day. You have an invitation.
MR WOOD: It is more likely that you are here organising the numbers to finish up on top of Mr Kaine again. I suspect that that is what it is likely to be. I can see that your Chief Minister looks very worried.
Let us look at the record as to the fact that the Minister has not asked the questions. Let us look at what he said in the parliament on 23 November 1989, when talking of the Follett Government. He said:
Over the last few months we have seen a constant succession of failures by this Government, a constant succession of missed opportunities, of failure, of indecision to act, of inattention to detail -
of inattention to detail, for goodness sake -
which add up unfortunately to a disaster in our hospitals and our health system, generally.
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