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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 2 Hansard (28 February) . . Page.. 396 ..

MS FOLLETT (continuing):

Mr Speaker, we have seen Mrs Carnell blindly pursuing her own agenda in health - the agenda which she never let the community in on at the time of the election - and both of the Independents supporting her in that agenda. We saw from Mr Osborne a move to censure Mrs Carnell over the treatment of this matter, and for a moment we were heartened to think that Mr Osborne might require the Government to keep some of its promises. Alas, that was not the case. Mr Osborne has not gone through with what was initially a quite good instinct, in my opinion. Mr Speaker, Mrs Carnell's health budget is out of control, and she has said that she does not know what to do about that. On present indications, I believe that the health budget will blow out by some $10m. The contribution made towards that state of affairs by Mrs Carnell has been to sack - to get rid of - the only two people in the history of self-government who actually balanced the health budget. She moved them on and put others in their place.

Mr Speaker, I think Mrs Carnell, in asking the community to believe that this is some kind of reform, is attempting to pull the wool further over people's eyes. To pretend that this is somehow good for the community is simply beyond the belief of any thinking person. I believe that all the community has got from this Government in the area of health, as in so many other areas, is continued waste and mismanagement of the resources that it has available to it. I do not believe that that is good enough. The community demands performance in this crucial area of government responsibilities. I think the community is entitled to principled elected representatives who try to keep their promises, not to elected representatives and a government who simply continue to try to shift the blame for their own actions onto everybody else. Throughout this debate we have heard interjections from Mrs Carnell trying to blame me, Terry Connolly, Mr Berry and anybody but herself for actions which she has taken to downgrade our health system. When you look back at the motion moved by Mr Connolly back in December, it is a stark illustration of just how downgraded our health system has become in the few short months since.

Mr Speaker, I believe that the Government stands condemned over its actions in health. The amendments which Mrs Carnell has moved completely gut this motion. In most other meeting places Mrs Carnell's amendments would be disallowed because they are so contrary to the original motion, but those are not our rules. I understand that. The fact of the matter is that Mrs Carnell's amendments completely deny the body of the motion. I think the fact that Mr Moore has indicated that he is prepared to support those amendments is an illustration of how far in bed he is with the Liberals. He is prepared to protect the Liberal Government from just about any and every justifiable criticism of their performance. That is the fact of the matter. This motion, as moved, should stand. I think the fact that it will be defeated, as it appears it will be, because of the actions of the Independents is just a further condemnation of their duplicity in an appalling performance on health by this Government.

Debate (on motion by Ms Tucker) adjourned.

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