Page 5395 - Week 17 - Tuesday, 3 December 1991
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Let me remind the Minister of the question he asked of me, as Minister for Health, in February of this year - on 19 February, to be precise. He asked this question:
Will the Minister assure the Assembly that the ACT hospital system is operating within budget?
Is there a familiar ring about that question? I think there is. He continued:
If it is not, what is the expenditure difference between the budget and actual costs, and what are the current full year projections?
What are the current full year projections? Mr Speaker, is this not the sort of question that we have been asking of the Minister over the last two or three months and receiving no answer to? We have been receiving answers such as, "Don't you worry about that. This is within the competence of the board to take care of. We will manage it somehow. That is up to the board. Sit down; no more questions. Cut off question time at 1 minute past 3". That is the kind of response that we have been receiving from this Minister. It is outrageous, because it is at variance with his own policy, as opposition spokesman on health, only six or eight months ago.
Another question he asked of me - on the same day, in fact - was this:
I have a further question ... Because of the level of interest in health matters, will the Minister give a report on the next day of sitting on the budget situation within our hospital system?
Now, the question has to be asked, Mr Speaker: If Mr Berry can ask for a statement, a report, on the budget situation within the hospital system, why cannot we? What is the difference between Mr Berry's request of 19 February and the request that we are making today in this Assembly for Mr Berry to honour his own undertaking to this Assembly to provide a monthly report? I will look forward to the Minister's explanation as to why a request made by him ought to be honoured; but one made by us, on this side of the chamber, ought not. It is simply incongruous and simply cannot be accepted by this Assembly.
We ask Mr Berry to provide the same level of accountability which any government department should be providing. Admittedly, other government departments do not provide monthly statements; but, then again, other government departments can, through their Minister, be asked to supply information about what is happening within their areas. The Minister is not just saying, "I do not wish to give you information contained in this particular document called the monthly financial statement of the Board of Health".
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