Page 1667 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 30 April 1991
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MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Jensen): Order, Mr Connolly!
MR COLLAERY: With your indulgence, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker: I heard that - - -
MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Mr Collaery, would you please resume your seat for a moment. Mr Connolly, you had your say before. I would appreciate it if you would allow the Minister to have his say. Mr Collaery, please continue.
Mr Berry: I take a point of order, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker. I would hope that you would reserve some attention for warnings that have been given out to other members of this Assembly. I draw to your attention the fact that Mr Duby has been warned before, this very day. I rest my case.
MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: Mr Berry, I am also aware that Mrs Grassby has been warned. Mr Collaery, please continue.
MR COLLAERY: Thank you, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker. I heard Mr Connolly in silence; I expect the same courtesy in reply. I do not expect much of the others in his pack.
The motion is self-defeating. To add to the case against the motion you have the words of Mr John Enfield. At page 2 of his report, on a prime issue, he says:
The Secretary should have consulted the Acting Chairman of the Interim Hospitals Board about the revision of the letter and kept ... the Minister informed of progress. This matter was not handled well by the Secretary and the Department.
Many of us have known Mr Enfield for his role in the Public Service Board. He makes a very informed comment when he says at page 2:
The administration of health in the ACT has been through significant change in the last six years. This has imposed a heavy burden on management, and there is no doubt of the effective and unstinting contribution of many. But the financial management of Health in the ACT has been under criticism, in reports by both external authorities and by the Auditors-General of the Commonwealth and the ACT, over some years, with little apparent improvement. To me, that is evidence that senior managers have given insufficient attention to improving the process of management, particularly of financial management. The consultants working with me on this Inquiry are of the view that "current problems stem from a failure to invest appropriate resources in, and attention to, the finance function over the entire (health) service".
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