Page 4108 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 24 November 1993
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All changes were far above the change in average weekly earnings. The change in average weekly earnings in 1992 was 3 per cent, but for VMOs the changes ranged between 4.70 and 3.25 per cent.
Mrs Carnell: It is not terribly much, you know.
MR BERRY: You add it up over the three years and it is a lot. Ten per cent in 1991 was a fair jump. It was 7.71 per cent for a pathology specialist. In 1993 the change in average weekly earnings was 2.1 per cent, with a top - - -
Debate interrupted.
ADJOURNMENT
MR DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! It being 4.30 pm, I propose the question:
That the Assembly do now adjourn.
Ms Follett: Mr Deputy Speaker, I require the question to be put forthwith without debate.
Question resolved in the negative.
PUBLIC HEALTH
Discussion of Matter of Public Importanc
e
Debate resumed.
MR BERRY: That compares with 4.09 per cent for surgeons and obstetrics and gynaecology specialists. The obstetrics and gynaecology specialists are the ones who are now saying that they have changed their mind about their interpretation of an urgent situation for a woman who is pregnant. Earlier they said that a confinement was urgent, but now it is not; they have to be sent away. These are the sorts of people we are dealing with and these wage increases would be the envy of most Australians.
When the ACT Government is doing its best to end all of this, we find the Leader of the Opposition using it to the full. Mrs Carnell has consistently called for health cuts, but what do we find now? The AMA has been whispering in her ear, I think.
Mrs Carnell: I am still saying that we should not pay the VMOs more than New South Wales.
MR BERRY: The AMA has been whispering in your ear, I think. The Government is not enjoying this sorry situation. It has negotiated for months with the VMOs, but those VMOs must remember that the people of the ACT come first, not themselves. ACT Health cannot condone the manipulation of patients as industrial hostages, and that is what has been happening.
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