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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 12 Hansard (19 November) . . Page.. 3779 ..

MR HIRD (continuing):

Mr Speaker, there are, of course, other aspects of the committee's report that I would like to comment on - in particular, mental health, ACTION, policing and employment. As members would be aware, the Chief Minister and Minister for Health, Mrs Carnell, only this week has announced a major restructuring of ACT mental health services - important changes that will improve services provided for people experiencing mental illness. The Government has demonstrated that it is serious about the way it cares for the mentally ill - and, indeed, all Canberrans who are ill - by allocating an extra $1.3m to mental health services since it came to office in 1995. The number of beds for mental health patients will be increased by 30 per cent with the opening next year of the new private psychiatric centre at Calvary Hospital.

Ms McRae: What are you talking about? I think you have the wrong one.

MR HIRD: Listen and learn. I was silent, madam, when you spoke. So be quiet, madam.

However, most importantly, our whole approach to community health is to make it more community based. One thing that accrual accounting is already achieving is the identification of the costs of purchasing ACT health services on behalf of the community. We all know that health costs have blown out dramatically, not just in the term of this Government, but in every year since the introduction of self-government. Mr Berry should know, because he is written into history as the only Minister who did not serve his full term. The big difference is that now, for the first time, we are seeing where the high costs are and why they are increasing at such a rate. It is only with this information that the health system can, at last, be made more cost-effective. Mr Speaker, I commend all staff involved in our health services, and I believe that this parliament should place on record the achievements of the staff in their seemingly never-ending battle to improve the Territory's health services.

Much has been said about the so-called sale of ACTION buses. Mr Speaker, what the Government is planning with ACTION is not a sale, as such. If you sell an asset, you quit that asset. The Government is not quitting anything with ACTION. What it is planning is a lease arrangement which will enable it to retain the use of the ACTION fleet but which at the same time will free up much needed funds that can be put to use in other areas for the benefit of the wider community.

Mr Berry: We are not selling them; we are just exchanging them for cash.

MR HIRD: Be quiet, Mr Berry. Standing order 202 is there, and we might have to exercise it.

Expenditure will be spread over 15 years, which means that that revenue can be freed up for more useful and effective purposes. It is another example of how, with better management, the Government is delivering more cost-effective services to the people that it serves in the Territory - something which is beyond the ability of those opposite to even contemplate. In line with its commitment to consultation, the Government continues to listen to the concerns of bus travellers, with the introduction of timetables that will meet community needs. They went out and asked for advice from the community - the very people that they serve.

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