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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1995 Week 10 Hansard (5 December) . . Page.. 2628 ..

Mr De Domenico: Who said this? Terry Connolly?

MRS CARNELL: Terry Connolly. He continued:

It seems to be the only Liberal Party division in Australia that demands 100 per cent socialised medicine. The bulk of general practitioner services in Canberra are provided by private GPs, the bulk of whom now bulkbill. The great Medicare reforms over the last decade have brought access to GP services within the range of all ...

I will repeat that:

The great Medicare reforms over the last decade have brought access to GP services within the range of all, because, through bulkbilling, you can see a GP.

He is talking about private GPs here. He said:

I have indicated that, if GPs want to run a bulkbilling practice and rent space in our health centres, we are happy to look at that, because it allows us to focus health centre effort on other areas.

I will repeat that:

... because it allows us to focus health centre effort on other areas.

He did not say 100 per cent bulk-billing; in fact, quite the opposite. He was talking about private GPs there. It is on page 4541 of Hansard of 6 December, Mr Connolly. What we hear here is blatant hypocrisy from those opposite.

Interestingly, under the previous Government, how many salaried CMPs did we have at the Dickson and Kippax health centres? None. Has Dickson Health Centre closed?

Mr De Domenico: No.

MRS CARNELL: Has Kippax Health Centre closed?

Mr Humphries: No.

MRS CARNELL: No. But they do not have any salaried CMPs, so what is Mr Connolly talking about? Interestingly, at the Narrabundah Health Centre we have one private GP, who will stay there. At Phillip we have two private GPs and only one salaried CMP. We have one private GP at Dickson. We have three at Kippax. In other words, at this moment we have nine salaried CMPs and seven private GPs at our health centres. To assume for one moment that somehow there were all these salaried CMPs and a couple of private ones is simply wrong, and it is hypocritical for Mr Connolly to suggest that. What do these private GPs do? Three of them only bulk-bill for pensioners and

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