Page 2201 - Week 08 - Thursday, 10 September 1992
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MRS CARNELL: Just for interest, Mr Berry, there are some other symptoms of paranoia - delusions of grandeur and arrogance, which I think you show quite regularly, especially in question time - straight out of the medical dictionary.
The Government does not seem to trust its own senior bureaucrats. This could be why they seem to need to be monitored. Could this be why, when I visited Woden Valley Hospital recently - the only time I have been given any opportunity by Mr Berry to see anything - somebody from the Minister's office, and not just one person but also somebody from the Board of Health, was in attendance, as well as senior administrators from the hospital and from the redevelopment project. No doubt they were all there to watch each other. The Government obviously did not trust their own senior bureaucrats to give the right information. All I wanted to do was look at a construction site. I would hate to think of what it cost ACT ratepayers for one simple meeting.
The approach to information control is totally unacceptable, and it certainly does not lead to good government. It is unreasonable for Mr Berry to insist that Liberals are running a scare campaign. He is the one who is running a scare campaign by controlling information. One could actually say that this is very similar to what could have happened under a Stalinist government. They probably think that is a nice thing to say. This Government has set the groundwork for a hostile approach. This is not the way to approach public debate. Public debate should be open and there should be a willingness to listen to both sides.
Mr De Domenico: Only if you agree with them, though.
MRS CARNELL: Of course. This means that information must be provided and valid criticisms should be acknowledged. Today's editorial in the Canberra Times says it all. This used to be a government that made great play of being relaxed and open. If that was ever the case, it certainly is not now. The shutters are now coming down, according to the Canberra Times. In fact, in health they are already down. As the Canberra Times so rightly points out, why is the Government so acutely sensitive? Does it have something to do with the self-importance some members feel in their position? That is another symptom of the medical condition I mentioned earlier.
Mr De Domenico: Paranoia.
MRS CARNELL: That is the one. Ted Mack, the Federal Independent MP, said in relation to the raid on the Canberra Times:
This sort of pomposity and righteousness on behalf of any government must be stopped.
Perhaps the Labor Government's sensitivity covers up for the lack of a real strategy to deal with the problems Canberra faces - like the need to reduce expenditure in line with the Grants Commission process; like the need to increase sustainable employment and to improve our economy; like the need to assist business in making the ACT a welcome place in which to invest. There are so many areas that need to be addressed in the health and community services area - like improving the facilities for our intellectually disabled, establishing a hospice, improving palliative care, reducing administrative overstaffing, reducing waiting lists, putting case-mix funding into place. I could go on and on. This is really to mention just a few.
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