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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 2 Hansard (25 February) . . Page.. 389 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

to happen; it needs to happen tomorrow. People are dying in the streets because we do not have a fifth ambulance". Mr Berry took over as Health Minister and for four years nothing happened. The promised fifth ambulance never arrived. In our very first budget we put aside the money to move towards the creation of that fifth ambulance.

Mr Berry: It is "move towards" now.

MR HUMPHRIES: That is what we promised in our first budget, Mr Berry.

Mr Berry: No; you said it would happen on 1 October.

MR HUMPHRIES: No; that was not our first budget; that was our second budget, Mr Berry. Pay attention, please. In our first budget we put aside half-a-million dollars to provide an extra number of crews - to provide, if you like, an extra half an ambulance or a peak-hour ambulance. That service operated partially over the period that we had intended it to, but not fully because an industrial dispute arose with the Transport Workers Union. The Transport Workers Union said that they did not believe in having an ambulance operating on only a part-time basis. Mr Berry retreats to his paper so that he does not have to hear this information, but this goes to the heart of the matter. The Transport Workers Union said, "We do not want to operate a part-time ambulance crew, because, if we do, what we will end up doing is affecting that 10 : 14 roster arrangement which we hold very dear to our hearts. Therefore, we do not want anything less than a full fifth crew, because it is going to affect our rostering arrangements and introduce a new element".

Mr Berry: You said a full fifth crew from last October.

MR HUMPHRIES: Listen, Mr Berry. That is the first budget I am talking about, you dill. Mr Speaker, in the first budget we brought down we promised only a part-time fifth ambulance - listen, Mr Berry - and we delivered on that. But there was the problem of the Transport Workers Union not being prepared to accept a part-time fifth crew. In the second budget, the budget brought down in August last year - - -

Mr Whitecross: September, actually; the 24th, if you like.

MR HUMPHRIES: September, okay; if you are so accurate, Mr Whitecross. Pay attention to all of this and you will get a few pointers out of it. In September we brought down a budget and said that we would supply - - -

Mr Whitecross: I am ahead of you, Mr Humphries.

MR HUMPHRIES: I have been perfectly accurate so far. We said that we would supply a full-time fifth ambulance crew and we would do so from 1 October. Mr Speaker, that was the commitment we made in the budget. We delivered the money to do that. The service has been substantially delivered, with a fifth crew, but not entirely. Mr Speaker, the reason for that is not, as Mr Wood's question suggests, that we lack the money to do so; there is more than enough money to provide the fifth crew on a full-time basis. What is lacking is the people to man it. The Government advertised in July for a fifth crew - - -

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