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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 4 Hansard (8 May) . . Page.. 1135 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

Sixth, on the impact on ACT citizens when private health insurance rates are falling, according to Mr Berry: The ACT has traditionally had a very high level of private health insurance, currently reported at about 38 per cent. The ACT Government has made it clear that the private hospital will not receive any business or funding from the Government. So, the impact on ACT citizens from the perspective of public health seems very obscure indeed, Mr Speaker. However, I would speculate that having access to a private hospital offering high complexity services will be an initiative to encourage some people to actually retain or even to take out private health insurance, particularly with the new rebate options that will be available in the next financial year from the Federal Government.

Mr Speaker, this Government is very openly encouraging private business development in the ACT, to reduce the massive dependency we have on the public sector here. We believe that Health Care of Australia's willingness to invest over $20m in a building in the ACT is something that we should be supporting, particularly as the ACT public hospital system gets a $2.1m up-front payment, straight into the public hospital coffers. This seems to me to be a very sensible approach. Mr Speaker, Health Care of Australia have made it very clear that they want to get on with the job of building this hospital very quickly. That is the reason why we have moved into the contractual phase as quickly as we have. They believe that construction costs will be driven up by the Sydney 2000 Olympics, and they want to get on with the job. I think that is good news for Canberra. New construction jobs and $20m worth of construction dollars into the Canberra community are things that I am sure at least most of us would be very positive about.

Mr Speaker, I think the only people that I know are not positive about this new development are actually the doctors who own the other private hospital in Canberra. In his speech, Mr Berry made the comment that the local private hospital owners had actually not come to the Government asking for a competitor. Mr Speaker, I do not know of any business that has ever come to the Government and said, "Excuse me, could you please set up a competitor for me". (Extension of time granted) Normally, businesses like not to have competitors, if they can get away with it. The reality is, I believe, that competition in the area of private hospital beds in the ACT will actually improve service provision. The great irony of debating this here today is that I suspect that it is the first time that Mr Berry has ever got up and supported a case put to him by a group of doctors, particularly the actual doctors who are involved and about whom in the past Mr Berry has not actually been overly complimentary, I have to say. But it shows that all things can change.

Mr Berry now says that this inquiry is not actually looking at this private hospital but is looking at - I think these were his words - what this private hospital development will do to the ACT in the future. Mr Speaker, can I ask how you could do that? When I suggested to Mr Berry that we were not going to cut public hospital spending in the ACT, because I had just brought down a budget and it actually had more money in it for public hospitals, he said, "Yes, but that is now". It is very important to run through this argument. That is for the next 12 months, Mr Speaker. There are forward estimates out there that show what our intentions are in the future if we are re-elected.

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