Page 2190 - Week 07 - Thursday, 6 June 1991
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What did the Chief Minister have to say on hospitals? He said:
We will proceed with hospital redevelopment plans and accelerate financial planning arrangements.
A bit slow off the mark, methinks. Here we are, a fair way down the track, and we know of a $17m budget blow-out. I note that Mr Humphries did not mention the figure of $17m, which seems to suggest to me that something else has gone wrong; but there we have it. A long way down the track after that commitment we have massive budget blow-outs in the hospital system. Mismanagement has been uncovered. We know now that the hospital redevelopment program that was planned by this Government will cost $35m more. It will cost $200m. It will cost almost as much to close Royal Canberra Hospital as it would to keep it open. There is no question about that. I cannot help going back to that phrase "accelerate financial planning arrangements". Under this Chief Minister they have accelerated all right - backwards. That has been the difficulty.
The blow-out in the hospital system alone has more than doubled. The blow-out identified under Labor was known only a few weeks before Mr Kaine took power. The source of the problems was not identified until Mr Kaine's Government took office. What was the effect? The budget blow-out reached over $17m. As I have said before, it has more than doubled under this Treasurer.
Mr Speaker, under Chief Minister Kaine, we find that it costs us more for less, and when we point it out he does nothing. He does not stop the mismanagement; he will not sack the Ministers responsible. He seems happy to let it go on. We are paying more for fewer services. What is the response of the Minister for Health? The head of his department got the bullet and he still tells us that he has no idea where the money is coming from to sort out his hospital system.
The Kaine Government's hospital redevelopment plan, Mr Humphries finally concedes now, is premised on wrong information. He now admits that demand for services is higher than expected. Mr Humphries got it wrong again. He had the wrong formula - something we are getting used to under Mr Kaine's leadership. Now Mr Humphries wants more money for his budget.
But his Chief Minister, Mr Kaine, of course, has different ideas, as we heard in recent times. He wants more cuts in health and education. Our health and education services are bleeding to death under this Government and Mr Kaine says that he wants more cuts. The people of Canberra have a right to know that their money is being spent wisely before being asked to take further cuts. The madness of the Alliance Government can no longer proceed, Mr Speaker, because it will mean worse conditions for the people of the Australian Capital Territory. It has to fall.
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