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Canberra Times . . Page.. 289 ..

MR CONNOLLY: The Liberal Party claimed that they would reduce the health budget by $30m. It was in your election documents.

Mr Humphries: But you were going to do it too. You just were not prepared to say so.

MR CONNOLLY: No, we were not, Mr Humphries. What we said was that we would seek the efficiencies and spend the savings on enhancements. The Andersen report set out quite specific recommendations for what should be done in year one. If Mrs Carnell checks, she will find that what they said should be done in year one was done in year one. Again, we have sloganeering: “Casemix, casemix”. Mrs Carnell, I look forward to the day when you take the casemix wand out of your backpack, wave it at the hospital and everything is perfect, because you know, and your officials know, that it is nonsense. You know, and your officials know, that casemix is a very useful accounting tool that will allow you to have a better feel for what is going on in the hospital. It will be a very useful management and accounting tool.

You will have that at your disposal because our Government implemented it; because Wayne Berry, when he was Health Minister, instead of embarking on an easy spending program and saying, “Let us throw a few million dollars at something that will get a good headline”, made the decision, about three years ago, to spend many millions of dollars on putting in financial control systems. You never get a good media opportunity out of putting in a financial management system. But Wayne did that, as Health Minister, and I proceeded with that process, and we got it up and running in July of last year. It still has a period to bed in. No doubt, you have briefings that are some months fresher than when I had them; but the basis of using casemix as a financial control mechanism is there. To fund on the basis of casemix was not what Andersen said should be done. They said that we should use the techniques. The Victorian model is just political nonsense. You know it, and your officials know it. But, again, we hear your slogan: “When we have casemix, everything will be fine”. Well, Mrs Carnell, you will be put to the proof of all of this, because you are the Government and you will have to deliver.

I am disturbed that, on some of the key issues of health, there is a massive lack of information. We do not know what settlement you reached with Canberra's doctors, although we did read in the paper about the president of the AMA saying that it is appropriate to get down in the gutter - his words - when you are struggling with the government over doctors' salaries. Another well-known Canberra surgeon was quoted in the Canberra Times as saying, “I have been through this struggle four times in the last 20 years. Governments come and go, but we stay on forever, and we keep winning”. So, we are very sceptical of your claimed settlement of the doctors dispute. We have seen no documents. We have seen no financial reconciliation. All we have seen is the rhetoric. We may support aspects of your program when we see the details. To date, all we have seen is rhetoric and ideology.

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