Page 44 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 16 February 1993
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Mr Cornwell: You are going to be in a real lather by 13 March.
MADAM SPEAKER: Order! Members of the Opposition will cease interjecting.
MR BERRY: As has been said in the past, it is always left to Labor to do something positive. All the Liberals seem to want to do is undo Medicare and lead us into darkness. That is what it is all about. We know that when it comes to public hospital funding we will be worse off in the ACT as a result of that which is being planned by the Liberals. As I have said, or as I began to say a little while ago, we intend to include those Medicare principles in the legislation, by agreement. In fact we supported the development of that proposal right through the process till the final agreement in order that we could enshrine in legislation in the ACT a commitment to those Medicare principles and demonstrate to the people of Australia that Labor is committed to Medicare. We are going to put those principles in legislation to make sure that we cannot dodge the issue. That is not what will happen under those opposite. We saw what happened in 1975. We were told that nothing would happen to Medicare. What did Malcolm Fraser do?
Mr Connolly: He chopped it.
MR BERRY: We all remember that. What happened in Victoria? All sorts of promises were given to the Victorian people, but after the election there was a sneak attack by a bunch of sneaks. That is what we will see if there is an election win by the Liberals - and I know that there will not be, because the people of Australia are starting to wake up to this mob.
Mr De Domenico: It took them 10 years to wake up to yours but, by gee, you will see what happens on the 13th, with a vengeance.
MADAM SPEAKER: Order, Mr De Domenico! Mr Berry has the floor.
MR BERRY: It is getting close to naming time, I think. Finally, Madam Speaker, the Medicare agreement requires States and Territories to prospectively negotiate with each other for the purpose of making payments for residents of one jurisdiction being treated by another. This is a significant feature of the new agreement which will more appropriately recognise the costs to the ACT of having approximately 20 per cent of its case load referred from across the border.
Madam Speaker, all of this is in stark contrast to what is proposed by the Liberals opposite. We heard Mrs Carnell carping about the ACT moving too quickly to sign the Medicare agreement when we indicated our very clear preference. She was wrong. That is proven by the outcome of the Medicare negotiations. In fact, if she has a look at the outcome of the negotiations and compares it with the situation in those Liberal States that waited before signing the agreement, she will get a pleasant surprise. The ACT did pretty well in the circumstances. This legislation, though unfortunate in its origins, will take health services into a different era. I say "unfortunate" because Mr Jim Service, Ms Gail Freeman and others on the board have put their shoulder to the wheel to attempt to manage - - -
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