Page 3069 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 10 September 1991
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She spoke about the Residents Rally and the Ainslie Transfer Station Bill. Referring to the Royal Canberra Hospital Bill, she said:
This Bill also gives them a chance to show the people of Canberra whether they stand by the promises they made at the election and whether their pious statements made in this Assembly last year on this same subject meant anything at all.
She continued:
This Bill is yet another demonstration of the fact that the Labor Party sticks by the promises it made to the Canberra community at the election last year.
What are the people of Canberra to think about their change of view on saving the Royal Canberra Hospital? She continued further:
There are many reasons why the Royal Canberra Hospital should be retained, just as there are many reasons why the hospital can be afforded by our community.
Some time later on in the speech she said:
Last week we saw petitions from 41,000 Canberra residents presented to the Assembly ...
I believe that the number is now 50,000, and that is about 30 per cent of the entire electorate in Canberra. Surely, with that sort of concern, the representatives in this Assembly should do the will of the people and save the Royal Canberra Hospital. Rosemary Follett said:
Mr Speaker, the 41,000 people who signed those petitions all believe that Royal Canberra Hospital should remain open. Those 41,000 people vastly exceed the total number of people who voted for the Residents Rally and the Liberal Party at the last election.
I think we all fully understand that they vastly exceed as well the number of people who voted for the ALP at the last election. She continued:
... the Government has absolutely no mandate to close Royal Canberra Hospital. The decision flies in the face of their promises to the Canberra community. The Bill that I have presented today offers a last opportunity for members opposite to show that they are prepared to listen to the desires of the community and to act to protect public health services. The Bill is about honesty in government ...
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