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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 12 Hansard (21 November) . . Page.. 4101 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

It is just out of control. The situation is that massive amounts of money have been thrown at the health system and it has cost the ACT economy fairly dearly. We are paying millions and millions of dollars to try to buy Kate Carnell's popularity. Anybody else's money is all right if it goes to the cause of her popularity. Mr Speaker, I am going pretty well. I have been speaking and I still have 10 minutes.

MR SPEAKER: No, you have not. You have six minutes. I have been watching the clock. Do not worry.

MR BERRY: Which clock are you watching, Mr Speaker?

MR SPEAKER: I am watching the one in front of me down here, which you cannot see.

MR BERRY: I cannot see that one. We have to work out which one we are going by. Mr Speaker, the health budget problems which have been built in for future generations will have to be resolved by future governments.

Mrs Carnell: That is what we do every year. That is what you did every year.

MR BERRY: Nobody has ever built in the sort of blow-out that you have built in this year - around $22.3m. That will be a legacy that we will never forget. It is all because of a Health Minister who has not been able to take hold of the reins, grab the levers with a firm hand and deal with the problems that confront her.

The first one that Mrs Carnell failed to deal with was the issue which confronted her over the visiting medical officers. She just folded and gave them the money. Of course, they walked away with a big smile on their faces, and no wonder. It was a nice easy little touch. I would have liked that as well. The situation was taken on by Labor and we intended to do something with that.

Mrs Carnell: You had done nothing and you had had months and months. There is no relevance.

MR SPEAKER: Relevance, Mr Berry.

MR BERRY: It is entirely relevant, Mr Speaker, because part of the $22.3m overrun in health as a result of health expenditure and the failure of the health budget was caused by Mrs Carnell's failure to be able to grapple with the problem of the very high visiting medical officer cost. It was incompetence. There is no question about that.

Mr Speaker, we are lumbered with a budget you could not possibly vote for. We are lumbered with a budget that is going to be managed by a Minister who has proven herself not to be up to the job. We could not possibly vote for a budget where a question of conflict of interest exists as it does in this case. That matter may be resolved in future months or even years. The fact of the matter is that, under John Howard's code of practice, Mrs Carnell could not even hold down the job, and that would be a relief to the people of the ACT.

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