Page 2549 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 23 August 1994
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
One other matter I would like to talk about is the hospice recommendation. It is interesting that, when you read the commentary on the hospice, you can piece together what happened. Luckily, we discovered that the figures which had been first mentioned by Mrs Carnell had never been justified. Subsequently, Mrs Carnell set out to justify them. On page 57 of the report, in paragraph 4.200, it says:
Typically the daily cost of hospice care was in the range of $300-$500 ...
Earlier, at paragraph 4.198, it talks about the Minister, or some health bureaucrat, saying that the daily cost is some $300 a day, approximately. They are very similar figures and I do not think they are really a criticism of the Government, although they might have been set out to be in the first place.
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Berry, your time has expired.
Mr De Domenico, before you begin, let me get back to Mr Humphries. Once the committee has reported, anything may be divulged. Under standing order 241, and under House of Representatives Practice, once the committee has reported, it is fine. I assume that a house can set its own standards of ethics or its own rules on it, but in terms of - - -
Mr Humphries: It is all open slather; all right.
Mr Kaine: Anything is fair game; so be careful what you say in in-camera hearings.
MADAM SPEAKER: No, not in camera. Just check standing order 241.
MR DE DOMENICO (9.10): Madam Speaker, I rise to talk specifically about the Estimates Committee report. We have just heard 20 minutes of what I thought was an attack on the process, an attack on the Independents, an attack on the Opposition and an attack on anything else that was going. It seems ironic that the attack was made by a person who was at the Estimates Committee for perhaps 40 per cent of the time. Let me get back to what the Estimates Committee report says. The first thing I need to say is that Ms Szuty and the staff need to be congratulated for the amount of work done. Those of us who attended most of the hearings of the Estimates Committee were perhaps sick and tired of reading and listening to things; but I can imagine the situation the staff found themselves in.
Let us get back to specifics. Mr Berry used the words "claimed", "claims" and "thoughts" all the time. What Mr Berry must realise, and he would have if he had been there for any amount of time during the estimates process, is that this report is an accurate reflection of exactly what happened at the Estimates Committee. It is a reflection of what was said by Ministers and public servants in response to questions asked by members of the Estimates Committee. It is not something that was fabricated out of thin air. It is an accurate and true reflection, and, if it is not an accurate and true reflection, as Ms Szuty and others have said, everybody who was part of that estimates process had an opportunity to say so. No-one did.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .