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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 5 Hansard (14 May) . . Page.. 1170 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

to spend it. That demonstrates, Mr Speaker, the shonkiness of this proposal. Quite contrary to the statement in the Appropriation Bill - that is, "Introduction of this Bill avoids the practice used in previous years of making artificial cash management arrangements to conceal an overrun in the Health and Community Care Budget" - I suggest, Mr Speaker, that the approach that has been taken in this Appropriation Bill is even more secretive because Mrs Carnell could not demonstrate where the money was going to be spent or how much of it was going to be spent. Indeed, she could not even give the committee of inquiry an unequivocal commitment that she would not borrow more money.

The fact of the matter is that, however you describe the expenditure of this money in this piece of paper, it is absolutely worthless because Mrs Carnell can go out there and borrow $14.2m.

Mr De Domenico: You do not know what you are talking about.

MR BERRY: She can go and borrow $14.2m. She can add that to the debt. Those are the facts of the matter. I have to say that we do not have to defend your budget, because we opposed it. You just get a feeling about Liberal budgets over the years. You get a feeling about Liberal budgets; if you vote for a Liberal budget you get the outcomes. We did not vote for it. We have no commitment to it.

Mr Speaker, this approach leads us down that rocky path of mismanagement that we have had to tolerate from Mrs Carnell to date in relation to health. There is no question about Mrs Carnell's management; it has been found wanting. It is a ramshackle arrangement which does not earn any confidence out there in the community. Mr Speaker, this shonky, secretive approach is as dishonest as anything we have seen come before this Assembly.

Mrs Carnell: Secretive? Is the Estimates Committee secretive now?

MR BERRY: For Mrs Carnell to say that this is open is quite outrageously untrue because she could not clearly demonstrate where the money was going to be spent. She could not even tell the committee of inquiry how it would be spent. (Extension of time granted)

Mr Speaker, at the risk of repeating myself, I would like to draw your attention to the report which was circulated, and in particular to those paragraphs which demonstrate clearly that officials did not know how much they were going to spend. Mrs Carnell clearly put on the record that she could not give an unequivocal commitment that there would not be further borrowings. Mrs Carnell did put on the record that she thought she might like to use this process to reinforce on management the requirement to stay within budget. Heavens above, she is the Minister for Health.

Mrs Carnell: It did not work for you. Four budgets, four blow-outs, fewer beds, longer waiting lists.

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