Page 1080 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 20 April 1994
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a virtuous person in suggesting that the Liberal Party plays politics. Mr Connolly, as Minister, and this Government will be haunted day after day by the words of Mr Berry. Whatever the Liberal Party has said over the past two weeks, we have quoted time and time again the words that Mr Berry has used.
Mr Berry has called the visiting medical officers "greedy", "parasitic", "dishonourable", "unprofessional", "arrogant", "a different breed of people", "belligerent", "privileged", "disgraceful" and "only interested in lining their pockets". He has accused them of "using patients", "holding a gun at the Government's head", "holding the sick and injured to ransom", and "boring it into the sick and injured", and used a host of other insults. This is from a person who stood up here three minutes ago and accused the Liberal Party of playing politics and not being realistic. Shame on you, Mr Berry! This is the man who accused the Liberal Party of misleading. Shame on you, Mr Berry!
Mr Connolly has done a little bit more. In about two weeks Mr Connolly has personally changed the whole health scenario and the way things are handled. It is not only money that is needed; it is also someone to instil better morale within the system, because, if staff perform better, then perhaps we will start seeing some of those cost savings that everybody keeps talking about. Madam Speaker, as I said, Mr Berry's two-and-a-half years' experience as Health Minister was hardly an experience that engendered trust and cooperation within anybody, whether it be doctors, nurses or anybody else.
Madam Speaker, there are some early signs, as I said before, that the new Minister is making a reasonable start. There is no denying that. Mrs Carnell quite rightly rang in this morning, when she heard Mr Connolly say what he said, and congratulated him. Whether the Government likes it or not, Madam Speaker, the situation is that the Liberal Party people on this side of the house are people who are standing on ground where sensible people meet. There is no doubt about that. This is where sensible people meet - on this side of the house.
Madam Speaker, there is no denying that over the past two-and-a-half years the health system in the ACT has been run on political ideology and nothing else. Perhaps the greatest example of that is Mr Berry's continuing suggestion that the hospice should be put on the Acton Peninsula. There is no doubt that that decision is not what is best for the people of the ACT, but directly it is what is best for the left wing of the Labor Party. That is the way health has been run in this Territory for the past two-and-a-half years. Luckily, and thank God, it is not going to be run like that with Mr Connolly in charge. Mr Connolly is at least talking to the doctors, as I mentioned before. He is allowing the private sector to provide much needed maternity facilities. Once again today we heard Mr Berry continually bag the private sector. Yet Mr Connolly has a different approach. Good on you, Mr Connolly.
But we remind Mr Connolly that he is on trial. The targets that the Liberal Party have outlined are achievable if Mr Connolly has the political will. They are targets which will clearly bring benefits to everyone who uses health services in Canberra. If Mr Connolly is genuine in aiming for these targets, he can count on our support. I will say it again. If Mr Connolly is really genuine in meeting these targets, he can count on our support.
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