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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 2 Hansard (28 February) . . Page.. 393 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

Mr Speaker, this motion is clear. It calls on the Government to reinstate the salaried medical practitioner program to at least the level existing at the time the Liberals took office. If you were serious about putting them on wages, you would get them tomorrow.

Mrs Carnell: We are not serious about putting them on wages.

MR BERRY: That is right. But if this motion is passed, of course, you will have to be serious. The motion states:

reinstate the salaried medical practitioner program to at least the level existing at the time the Liberals took office unless 100 percent bulk billing can be guaranteed.

That is the clear intent of the motion. You could not guarantee the bulk-billing, but you still went on with clearing out the salaried medical practitioner program. That was quite deliberate. Contrary to what Mr Moore says, this is not a redundant motion. This motion is still well and truly alive. It also states:

implement the promises made in this Assembly and in other public statements in relation to all staff at the Jindalee Nursing Home, ie all staff, including casual staff, to be offered jobs and retraining in other parts of health or alternatively - - -

Mrs Carnell: I answered that question in the house the other day.

MR BERRY: It does not matter what the question was. I am talking about the motion. The motion continues:

withdraw any action aimed at the sale of government-owned health centres; and - - -

Mrs Carnell: I have - apart from Melba, which is closed.Would it bring it back?

MR BERRY: It would, if you put the salaried medical officers back in it; and you could, if you wanted to. The motion states:

maintain all ancillary health services at government-owned health centres at a level at least equal to that which existed when the Liberals took office.

This is a clear motion which is well and truly alive. Mr Moore has protected the Government on this issue. He does not believe in the push for bulk-billing across the community. I do not think he understands the effect of the decline of bulk-billing on the cost of health across this country. Of course, with Mrs Carnell's help, bulk-billing will decline in the ACT. She has taken out of the equation a large number of salaried medical practitioners who bulk-bill for everyone.

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