Page 2734 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 13 August 1991
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That referred to the former Acting Secretary of Health. So, the situation is that if we carry Dr Kinloch's amendment the Government will be unable to deliver, until March next year.
Mrs Nolan: Rubbish!
MR BERRY: You can say "Rubbish" all you like, Mrs Nolan; but the fact of the matter is that the Government is not going to be able to deliver. It is a silly amendment. You have not thought it through. You have this passionate drive behind you on this score, and you just have not thought about the issues. Craig Duby is laughing again, because he thinks it is a laughing matter. The only way that you can be guaranteed to have your wish, this Assembly's wish, implemented, in accordance with a law passed in this Assembly, is for you to pass the amendment which I have circulated - if you want to move it.
If you stick with the amendment that you have put in front of us, the Government will not be able to deliver until March 1992. Those are the facts. I will circulate a copy of this letter so that members can have a read of it. That is the advice from ACTEW, and you can take it or leave it. You can put your amendment up tonight and rush it through, and I can tell you that we are not going to be able to deliver until March 1992 - that is, if we can find the $200,000 to do the job.
Mr Duby: I could put it in at 0.5.
MR BERRY: Craig, that would probably be a better job for you than this job here. We have a difficulty. It is a technical difficulty. It has arisen because we were not consulted in the first place. We anticipated difficulties with the approach that was likely to be taken and the Law Office, of which the former Attorney-General often sings the praises, has put together an amendment which will deliver the goods. In effect, it will ensure that we are given some breathing space to get in the equipment which can deliver the level that this Assembly might require as a result of its deliberations this evening.
I am telling you, on the expert advice that we have, that we cannot deliver. If you want to ignore that, it is entirely up to you. If you want to look like fools, it is entirely up to you. We have no pangs of conscience in respect of section 65. We are not concerned about that because we are not as wedded to it as you were - for a short time - but I would have thought that maybe there would have been some searching of consciences in respect of that matter. It appears that there has not been, but at the end of the day - - -
Mr Kaine: Did anybody ask the people of Queanbeyan whether they want their fluoride halved?
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