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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 3 Hansard (28 March) . . Page.. 766 ..

Ms Follett: On what date was that?

MR BERRY: That was on 2 May. She said:

We had two weeks to solve the problem, and we did - with $2m in savings; with a cooperative approach ...

No wonder they were cooperating with you! There were not going to be any savings.

Mrs Carnell: That is not what the Auditor-General said.

MR SPEAKER: Order!

MR BERRY: The Auditor-General says that. He says that you were $1.9m behind at the end of last calendar year. Mrs Carnell said:

We have said quite categorically that the VMOs are the first cab off the rank in savings right across the board in health ... We have $2m worth of savings up front there -

"up front there" means "in the bag" -

and ongoing savings in areas such as better utilisation of theatres ...

Now deny that you said this: "We have $2m worth of savings up front there". Would you say that "in the bag" is a fair representation of "up front there"?

MR SPEAKER: Stop asking questions across the chamber. Continue with your speech.

MR BERRY: So, Mr Speaker, on we go:

About 20 per cent of VMOs have now signed contracts that are expected to lead to savings of more than $2m in a full year.

Mrs Carnell: They are expected to lead to savings of $2m a year.

MR BERRY: You said that you had them in the bag, Mrs Carnell, over and over again. You said, "We have, we have, we have". That is what this all boils down to. I will just go to the million dollar consultancy in health, where she said that she was going to get savings on a ratio of 8 : 1. Next minute she will be saying that the reason we do not have the savings on an 8 : 1 ratio is that she has not paid the bill yet. So, you cannot multiply it by eight. Of course, those consultants discovered that the VMOs were receiving more than they should.

Mrs Carnell said, "We are pleased with the $2m figure". We would have been pleased, too, if she had achieved it - and she told us that she would, over and over again. She said, "What we have achieved is savings in excess of $2m". She swaggered into this place and told us - to say it was "misleading" is to be very kind, Mr Speaker - what were,

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