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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 2 Hansard (28 February) . . Page.. 394 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

Mr Speaker, this is a motion that deserves the support of this Assembly. It should get the support of this Assembly, and the Government should be driven to retracing its steps and cleaning up the mess that it has made in relation to the matter. Quite obviously, Mrs Carnell has spread the honeyed words far and wide and has no intention of taking notice of any promises that she made to anybody in this place to cause them not to support this motion, which would embarrass her. The AMA would have been breathing down her neck to ensure that bulk-billing doctors are wiped out. There has never been any question about that. They have lined up before every Minister for Health in this place asking them to do it.

Mrs Carnell: They certainly have not. They do not even come to see me.

MR BERRY: They would not have to. They know exactly where you are coming from. It would take just a phone call. They would not have to, but you would have been well and truly aware of their position. You can pull the other leg if you like. It whistles.

Mr Speaker, this is a motion which is about the provision of health care. Mrs Carnell is not concerned about that. She takes the economic rationalist approach to these issues. She has no interest in social justice issues. She has no understanding of the needs of ordinary society. She has demonstrated her lack of understanding of the social issues in her management of the current industrial dispute. That same attitude permeates her whole management of her portfolio areas. I say, and many thousands out there in the community say, that Mrs Carnell is - - -

Mr De Domenico: Name them.

MR BERRY: You can read them all off the petition yourself. There are thousands of them. This is a motion that is well worth the support of this Assembly. Mr Osborne should not allow the Government to thumb their nose at him. This motion can still be implemented with the support of the Assembly and force the Government to do what it calls for.

MS FOLLETT (Leader of the Opposition) (12.14): Mr Speaker, I want to speak in opposition to Mrs Carnell's amendments. Looking at the motion, which was moved last December by Mr Connolly, I think it illustrates the extent to which this Government is prepared to abandon its promises and abandon the Canberra community, which it has been elected to serve. It also demonstrates, in my mind, the extent to which both Mr Moore and Mr Osborne are prepared to protect this Government in pursuing that agenda.

Look at the actions that the Liberals have taken in relation to health. I believe that they reduced community services, particularly services to those people who are most in need of them - the most disadvantaged people in our community. Mr Speaker, I believe that those broken promises are the hallmark of this Government. If you look at the motion that Mr Connolly moved, all he did was ask the Government to live up to its election promises. That is all. Mr Speaker, we heard from Mrs Carnell in opposition and throughout the election period how she would maintain salaried doctors in our health centres. Both Mr Berry and Mr Connolly were berated by her for any perceived failure on their part to maintain salaried doctors in health centres.

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