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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 9 Hansard (27 August) . . Page.. 2609 ..

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, there are two programs here. There is the Commonwealth dental health program that they are discontinuing funding for later this year. It is not our program. There is the ACT dental service which, yes, we do have a responsibility for. And, yes, we will be continuing the funding of it. That is the reality.

Ms McRae: It is a shameful answer.

MRS CARNELL: No; it is actually the real answer. The fact is that we will not be cutting funding from our dental health program; it is that simple.

Also, Mr Speaker, we will give an undertaking that emergency dental care will not be affected by the Commonwealth's decision. The ACT dental service has made arrangements for the in-house management of approximately 400 emergency services that were being referred to the private sector each week. Members may not be aware that the Commonwealth dental health program actually used private dentists. It was a program which gave certain people with pension and health care cards access to private dentists at a particular rate. We are taking on board the 400 emergency cases that would have gone through that scheme in the past. Inevitably, though, the increase in emergency appointments will directly affect the amount of restorative treatment that can be provided by our service. We believe very strongly that what we have to make sure we do is cover those emergencies as first cabs off the rank.

Mr Speaker, in my view, that will probably mean that waiting lists will start to increase again, as they did under the previous Government. Waiting lists in the dental area have come down significantly; in fact, they are down now to a very manageable level. Mr Berry is absolutely right. They came down not only because of better management in the ACT dental service and better use of our resources but also because the Commonwealth came in with a four-year program to address waiting lists. But the reality is that that program will be discontinued at the end of that four-year period. I believe that will cause significant problems in terms of waiting lists blowing out as they did in the past.

Mr Berry: That is your fault. It is up to you.

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, it is interesting that Mr Berry said, "It is your fault". The fact is that those waiting lists were enormously long under him as Minister, until the Commonwealth came in with the extra money. Does that mean, Mr Speaker, that when waiting lists got out to 100 months at some stage under Mr Berry it was his fault? The fact is that you cannot have it both ways. We do not support the Commonwealth Government's decision. It is not a good decision for Canberra; it is not a good decision for health in Australia.

MR BERRY: Mr Speaker, I have a supplementary question. Of course, Mrs Carnell should realise that it was a 1993 Labor election promise, which was kept, which provided that funding. I ask Mrs Carnell: Will you give an unequivocal commitment that the salaries, which appear in your budget for the 1995-96 year at $2,911,000, and the administrative expenses of $799,000 will be maintained?

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