Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

None . . Page.. 67 ..

In keeping with this approach, we have acted decisively to unlock land on Acton Peninsula and on the Kingston foreshore. We have already taken the first steps towards what will be the biggest project undertaken in Canberra since the construction of the new Parliament House. We are fast-tracking a new Kingston Foreshore Authority comprising representatives from the ACT Government, the NCPA, unions and the private sector. This will be a real shot in the arm for Canberra's economy and will give our city an exciting venue of which we will all be proud. But this is something that belongs to Canberra; it is not something just of this Government.

Our partnership with the wider Canberra community will be central to our success in this project, but also to our success as an open government. We have already embarked on strategies to ensure that we have a meaningful dialogue with the community. Each Minister, not just me, will be involved in a regular program of visits to community facilities. This kind of informal consultation can sometimes provide a much better forum for people to make their ideas and concerns known. The role of community councils will also be formalised and expanded to enable them to consult widely with their local residents and to act as a community resource and information centre.

Nowhere is the need for reform more clearly identified than in our health system. In my first statement to this Assembly I said that one of our first priorities will be to address the problems of our public hospital system. Today there is a new structure and a plan of attack, and I stress the words “plan of attack”. It is simply not good enough to sit back and hope that something will happen, because it will not. We have established the new Department of Health and Community Care with responsibility for health, ageing and disability services. This will ensure that service delivery is more focused and that we can develop a greater emphasis on continuity of care, particularly in community health.

It is no secret that over the last six years we have spent more and more of our health resources and services without the necessary gains. We have spent more money and we have got less. Health expenditure in total and hospital services in particular are well above the level assessed by the Commonwealth Grants Commission. The Andersen report concluded that Woden Valley Hospital's total operating costs exceed a representative group of New South Wales and Victorian teaching hospitals by $26.5m per year for equivalent services. I believe that if people in the ACT were getting a better service they might be willing to pay, but the Andersen report indicates that that simply is not the case. In part, this is a consequence of past Commonwealth and ACT government policies, but we simply cannot continue to operate our health system at above average levels of cost.

If we are to get on top of health costs in the ACT we will have to make some tough decisions. This process has already begun with negotiations aimed at resolving the visiting medical officers dispute. The new agreements, once signed, are expected to save more than $2m and will achieve significant efficiencies. These efficiencies will also have to be found right across the hospital system if we are to open more surgical beds, reduce waiting lists for surgery and reduce the time people have to wait in our emergency departments. We simply cannot sit back and hope that something happens.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .