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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 3 Hansard (28 March) . . Page.. 764 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

on the cost model. She was using a 1991-92 cost model, which was the one for Woden Valley Hospital and Royal Canberra Hospital, which has long since been closed. What a joke! She had the gall to say that this was the cost model used by Gary Humphries. Mr Humphries was gone by the time that cost model was developed. So do not try to mislead us again.

We should also go to a further point in the Auditor-General's report, on page 18. This goes again to the issue of cost models. He said:

The matter of budget setting was not guided by the cost model ...

Mrs Carnell: But nor should it be.

MR BERRY: What Mrs Carnell tries to mislead us on again is that her whole process of developing these cost savings was based on the cost model. The budget was not developed on it because it is clearly set out in the Auditor-General's report that it was not. He said:

... budget targets were set by hospital managers, taking into account their service provision arrangements.

Did you not know that? If you did not know it, you are incompetent as well. Mr Speaker, we should then go to Mrs Carnell's promises on the budget. She said, in a report in the Canberra Times on 20 September 1995:

In the lead up to this year's election, we stated that reform of our health system was our number one priority.

And, of course, without going into all the issues, this is what Mrs Carnell said in her speech:

Within two months of coming to government, I was able to reach agreement with visiting medical officers on new contracts, after more than two years of hostile negotiations with two previous Ministers. These contracts will deliver savings of close to $3m a year.

The budget figure was set, not on the cost model, but by hospital managers. Mrs Carnell then went on to say it on every opportunity when she came into this chamber - and she was questioned closely on this issue, Mr Speaker, by the Labor Opposition. I will just read out a number of her quotes. I think there were about 15 times when she said that she had the savings in the bag. On 2 May 1995 - this is about the VMOs and the Government working together - she said:

It has also created a situation where more than $2m will be saved by the Government ...

That was informing this Assembly of what was going to happen - "$2m will be saved".

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