Page 3859 - Week 15 - Tuesday, 15 December 1992
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Mr Humphries: He is fudging.
MR BERRY: No; it is very important that the quality of the question be tested. If you say 25 per cent, I assume - - -
Mr Humphries: It is not important to the question. It is irrelevant.
MR BERRY: Mr Cornwell obviously thinks it is important, or he would not have asked the question. It may fluctuate, depending on - - -
Mr Cornwell: If it is 24 per cent, I will not argue. Just answer my question.
MADAM SPEAKER: Order! The answers to questions will, in my opinion, be more concise if there are no interjections. Mr Berry, will you continue.
MR BERRY: One question grows to 22 with interjections, and it is a bit hard to deliver an answer in the required time. The percentage could ebb and flow. It will depend on what New South Wales does with its hospitals. I understand that Bega Hospital is in for a period of closure, and there may be an impact on the hospital system.
When it comes to costs, I have said time after time that we are in the process of negotiating with the Commonwealth about the outcomes for Medicare. Our preferred position was to take the Grants Commission process of providing funding for the cross-border trade, if I may call it that. The Grants Commission would make an assessment of the amount and we would receive an amount which was calculated according to the Grants Commission process. That has been our preferred position.
At this point it appears that the weight of support will go to payment for cross-border traffic, if you like, and we are to negotiate with the Commonwealth about the level of payment which will be made in respect of those services which we provide to people in New South Wales and which New South Wales provides for people in the ACT. We will argue a case which supports the costs that we incur. But at the end of the day it is going to be subject to a long process of negotiation involved in the determination of the eventual Medicare agreement which will carry us beyond the middle of next year.
That, in turn, demonstrates our commitment to the Medicare process and a willingness to get involved with the Commonwealth and other States in the development of a new program for the rest of Australia. I repeat what I said earlier. You cannot afford to grandstand with New South Wales and Victoria on this important issue. If the Liberals are serious about health care in the ACT, they ought to know that most people in Australia support Medicare - - -
Mr Cornwell: So, the matter has not been resolved. That is what you are saying.
MR BERRY: The matter will be resolved in negotiations with the Commonwealth, and a full statement will be made to this Assembly when the eventual arrangements are settled. It is a matter that is subject to negotiation.
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