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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 10 Hansard (3 September) . . Page.. 2967 ..

Mr De Domenico: You did a quadrella, though, Wayne, four years in a row - one, two, three, four.

MR BERRY: I am glad that Mr De Domenico interjects and describes the years of Labor when it comes to hospital finances. Repeatedly, Labor governments increased the control over financial management in the hospital system to a point where we balanced the budget. Mrs Carnell took us back to before self-government with the biggest budget blow-out ever, twice as big as that of the one who had the championship belt before her - Mr Humphries. So, Mr Speaker, Mrs Carnell is the worst Health Minister ever. She has cut more health services to the community and has had the biggest budget blow-outs. Mrs Carnell was the one that said, "We will take $30m off the cost of health". Not only does she miss out on that promise, but she delivers us a bill for an extra $20m. What a great example for a Chief Minister!

All the others sit over there defending her. How do you feel when the money comes out of Urban Services and your programs are cut because of Mrs Carnell's budget blow-out? Do you like that? No; but you just cop it sweet, because you are not game to do anything about it. You just do not have the courage to do anything about it. Whatever the Chief Minister wants to waste in Health, you will cop it, because you are too weak to defend your constituents out in the community. I am referring to Mr Squiggles over there and Helicopter Humphries. So, we have a hospital system for which Mrs Carnell promised to pull $30m off the cost; but instead she added $20m. We have a community health care system which was ravaged by Mrs Carnell when she removed those bulk-billing doctors. Thousands of people out there in the ACT will remember her for that cruel act.

Mrs Carnell: It is nasty spending money on patients instead of doctors' salaries, is it not?

MR BERRY: This just shows you how far off the beam she is. Mrs Carnell says, "It is nasty spending money on patients instead of spending it on doctors' salaries".

Mrs Carnell: Where do you think we spend it?

MR BERRY: Mr Speaker, Mrs Carnell should at least understand her portfolio before she comes in here interjecting. She knows that the money for the doctors' salaries came from the Commonwealth and we collected it through the bulk-billing arrangements. So, do not give me that, Mrs Carnell. You are not fooling any of us.

The fact of the matter is, Mr Speaker, that we have a hospital system which is being grossly mismanaged because Mrs Carnell is not able to control it. She has to guarantee that those important support services which the people in the Emergency Department need are available at all times; otherwise, we will face again and again the situation where the hospital is unable to take emergency patients. The important thing so far as a health system and a hospital system are concerned is that the community are happy. The community are not happy with this hospital system because they are worried about its ability to take emergency patients. They are worried about Mrs Carnell's slash-and-burn approach to community health care. They know that she has closed down and slashed and burnt in the community - - -

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