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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1995 Week 10 Hansard (6 December) . . Page.. 2749 ..

Mrs Carnell: It does not have any services, Wayne.

MR BERRY: Only because of you, Mrs Carnell, because you are the one who is moving the salaried medical officers. You are the one who defied the Assembly's motion in relation to this matter, and you ought not be allowed to get off. The fact of the matter is that these are amendments to the motion which we will agree to. We think they ought to be put, and the Government ought to be locked into being prevented from selling any health centre. We understand the numbers too, and the motion in relation to Kippax is likely to survive. We want it in writing. We want the motion passed and we want it in writing.

I draw Mr Osborne's attention to this matter because the people out in that region have been involved for some time in a campaign to save that health centre, and if it is the only one that is going to be saved I think they deserve to see that matter set in concrete. The amendment ought to be carried today to ensure that the people around the Kippax Health Centre are satisfied about its future. If you leave it up in the air, given the past performance of Mrs Carnell, you cannot rely on her. You cannot rely on her and we do not trust her. That is why we voted for the censure motion this morning. In relation to the Kippax Health Centre, if that is the only part of this motion that is going to be passed, we want it passed today and set in concrete. We oppose, as should you, Mr Hird, and you, Mr Stefaniak, the sale of the Melba Health Centre, because of the services that were provided to that community for a long time and that a lot of people up there value highly. We say that the first part of the motion should stand. We say that Melba should be saved as well, but we recognise the numbers in relation to the matter. For that reason, we want to see the amendment passed because the people who are serviced by the Kippax Health Centre want to see the matter settled.

There are business people out there, members of the Liberal Party, who know that their businesses are going to be affected while ever the future of Kippax is up in the air. It has to be settled. Confidence has to be restored. You cannot keep treating the west of Belconnen like you are. You strangled that school to closure and now you are treating the people out there with contempt, knowing full well that there was a motion. Mr Speaker, the people out there, and the businesses out there, deserve to know that at least the Kippax centre has been saved. That matter ought to be carried.

In relation to the maintenance of ancillary health services at government-owned centres, which was moved by Mr Connolly, an amendment has been foreshadowed to strike out "government-owned health centres". Mr Speaker, as far as we are concerned, we can support that. We moved the motion in all sincerity and we think it ought to stand, but it seems to me, Mr Speaker, that this is aimed at allowing Mrs Carnell to proceed to remove those ancillary health services from the Kippax Health Centre. I would like to draw this point to Mr Osborne's attention. Mrs Carnell has said she would not do certain things in the past, but she has a long list of ancillary services she intends to remove from the Kippax Health Centre. It is in writing that she intends to remove those ancillary health services from the Kippax Health Centre. If we strike out those words in paragraph (4) of Mr Connolly's motion, the fact of the matter is that Mrs Carnell has a list of services which she has said she will move.

Mrs Carnell: All services will still be available to the people of Belconnen.

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