Page 3888 - Week 15 - Tuesday, 15 December 1992
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
When Mr Berry had finished, in his very unpersuasive way, they had to send in the Second XI. Where were the other Ministers, the members of the Executive, who were prepared to stand behind Mr Berry and support his case? They had to send in the Second XI because they did not have anybody else to support him. Nobody else would stand behind the Minister, because they did not believe what he was saying either. Mr Wood is writing Christmas cards; he is very interested in this debate! The Chief Minister has not been here during the debate. Mr Connolly is reading Time. They are not interested in making any contribution to this debate.
On the other hand, Mr Humphries and Mrs Carnell have put their case forward persuasively, with adequate statistics to support what they had to say. Mr Berry and Ms Ellis said that the Liberals are concerned only about destroying the fabric of society, destroying our hospital system. I would submit, Madam Speaker, that the Minister and his Second XI talked about a universal Medicare system. What they should have been talking about is a universally mediocre medical system - not one that provides the best available medical service, but one in which you have to fight to get into the hospital in the first place. When you get there, the idea is that you get out as quickly as you can. No matter whether you have anywhere else to go, you are expelled from the system at the first opportunity.
The Liberals recognise that our health system in Australia is in tatters. It does not matter whether you go to Perth, Brisbane, Hobart or even Canberra, the health system is in tatters. The Labor Party, with its unqualified commitment to Medicare with nothing else, is going to force it further and further down the bottom of the black hole. The waiting lists are going to get longer and longer and the quality of service that is provided is going to get worse and worse.
I asked the Minister in question time where the money was going to come from to maintain the level of health spending in the ACT. He could not answer the question; and of course he cannot, because the money is not there. Despite that, the Minister signs an agreement - or, if he has not signed it, he expressed an intention to do so - that takes an additional $8m out of the hands of ACT taxpayers and puts it into the coffers of the Federal Labor Party. How much of that comes back into our health system? The answer is: Very little. So, the Minister is prepared to give away even more money.
The Minister should get down off his ideological horse and have a look at what the Liberal Party is saying about providing an alternative health system that is a matter of choice. Any minute now, presumably, based on this argument, Mr Wood is going to get up and say, "There shall be no private schools because you are not entitled to have choice. Even if you want to send your children into some other education system, we will not allow you to have private schools, so you cannot send them there". This is exactly the same argument that applies to the public health system. We are not saying that we want to destroy the public health system.
Mr Lamont: I wish you people would stop having Enid Blyton write your speeches.
MR KAINE: I do not need a written speech. I can do very well off the cuff; I speak better than you when you have a 10-page prepared speech, Mr Lamont.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .