Page 1219 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 11 May 1993
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What will make it difficult for Ms Follett to argue a case for the ACT at the Premiers Conference is that she and her Government continue to let factional philosophy get in the way of good, efficient financial management. It is really important to remember that without good financial management it is impossible to fund the sort of caring society that I am sure everyone in this house aspires to. You cannot do anything if you do not have the money; and the only way we will have money in the ACT is if we have good financial management and we do not go down the track that Mr Berry spelt out in his ministerial statement earlier. This is especially so in the health area. The report issued by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare titled, "How do we compare?" spelt it out quite definitely. The ACT is spending far too much on health. We all know what the figures are.
Mr Lamont: I move for an extension of time.
Mrs Carnell: No.
MADAM SPEAKER: I call Mr Wood.
MR WOOD (Minister for Education and Training, Minister for the Arts and Minister for the Environment, Land and Planning) (4.33): Madam Speaker, on this side of the house we were unanimous in wanting an extension of time. We all called for it. Mrs Carnell did not want it. After 10 minutes of listening to Mrs Carnell I know why she did not want to talk any longer. The Liberals are starting to wonder why it is that they have elected her as leader. It was a strange speech. In fact, this is a very strange debate.
Mrs Carnell: It is very important.
MR WOOD: The MPI, which I have read quite carefully, refers to the importance of the Government consulting about the Grants Commission outcomes. You have already, in two speeches, put your mark on the Carnell style; that is, to talk about consultation, and nothing more. We have had 25 minutes of Liberal debate on their MPI, which refers to consultation - not about the detail of the Grants Commission report and the budget, but about consultation - and we have had about one minute's debate on consultation. You will talk about it a lot but you will never offer anything. You will not come up, as I thought you would, with hard suggestions about what the Government should do, whom we should see, and all manner of activities.
Not only that; it is a very cruel debate. It is cruel to ask Mr Kaine to take the lead. It is not at all fair because we are talking about - I will say it again - "The Government's responsibility to consult with the community on its proposals to deal with the recommended reduction in Commonwealth funding". You have given it to Mr Kaine to carry. What you have done in your rhetoric is to admit failure. You have admitted in all this that in the last four years, and the last year-and-a-bit since the election and the new Liberal team, your consultation has been a failure. Let me quote Mrs Carnell's words in a media statement she put out, I think, yesterday. She said, "The Liberal Party will aim for a real participation by the community in the processes of Government".
Mrs Carnell: That is right.
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