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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 1 Hansard (18 February) . . Page.. 27 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

The report also identified that the department had made payments in advance for quarterly grants and for the full-year cost of the Comcare premium, as it is required to do under the purchaser-provider split. Obviously, that is another concept Mr Berry simply cannot grasp. We did not even expect him to understand the figures. The report actually says in black and white that no full-year effect is predicted at this stage on those particular items.

Mr Berry: At this stage.

MRS CARNELL: Yes, at this stage. All of the documents make those comments. In other words, Mr Berry has interpreted these payments in advance as a budget blow-out, even though there was a simple explanation right there in the report. I immediately wrote to Mr Berry, thinking, "Poor Mr Berry; he does not understand the figures. Maybe I can offer him a briefing to allow the OFM people to explain to him how accrual budgeting and financial management reports work". We heard nothing back; I expected nothing less. We heard last year that Mr Berry is a qualified solicitor, barrister, doctor, surgeon and, of course, respected business commentator. We now know that he is an accomplished accountant and economist because he really does not need to be briefed at all.

I was not really too surprised when we ended up with another Berry special last Sunday, even after he had just chosen not to be briefed, and he repeated the mistake. But he did not just repeat the mistake. This time Mr Berry pointed in his media release to the Government service provision report, saying that he had highlighted the long waiting times for elective patients in the ACT and our high hospital costs. Today I want to thank him very much for drawing the media's attention to these issues, because the figures used in the report on our hospital costs related to 1994-95 data. Again, if Mr Berry had read the dates, he would have known that he was criticising his party's performance and his own performance as Health Minister. On waiting times, the figures were based on a survey of January to June 1995, and therefore there were a couple of months of Mr Berry and the first couple of months of this Government. Once again, I would like to thank Mr Berry for his helpful critique of the appalling performance by Labor in health.

You will be disappointed, of course, but I think the people of Canberra will be very pleased, to learn that as at the end of December 1996 no person requiring category one elective surgery is waiting longer than 30 days for an operation. That changes a situation of a staggering 50 per cent of people who were assessed as being urgent waiting for longer than was appropriate for important surgery when Mr Berry was Minister to a situation now where not one category one patient has been waiting for longer than 30 days. That has been the situation for the last couple of months.

Our health budget is on track, Mr Speaker. In fact, it is somewhat better than on track - about $4.3m better. We have cut waiting lists by 1,000 people inside two years and we are treating thousands more people than was the case under Labor. I am sorry that, despite being Labor's Health Minister and shadow health spokesman over the last eight years, Mr Berry is still no closer to understanding anything about health systems. You would think after eight years you would be able to understand the absolute basics. But no, and I would like again to offer Mr Berry a briefing. It might help.

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