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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 7 Hansard (24 June) . . Page.. 2015 ..

Ms McRae: Get away! I have never in my life met anybody less vindictive than Wayne Berry. Get on with you!

MR MOORE: I cannot let that go, Mr Speaker. "There is not anybody who is less vindictive than Wayne Berry" is the interjection from Roberta McRae. If ever there was misleading of the house, that would have to be misleading of the house. I can understand Ms McRae jumping to support - - -

Ms McRae: On a point of order, Mr Speaker: I have not misled the house. He must withdraw that. I expressed a personal opinion. If he chooses to cut in on my interjections, he must withdraw the statement that I misled the house.

MR SPEAKER: And if you choose to cut in on somebody speaking - - -

Ms McRae: Excuse me, Mr Speaker; no member is allowed to impute improper motives to another member. They are the standing orders.

MR SPEAKER: Even - - -

Ms McRae: Even under any conditions, Mr Speaker. They are the standing orders.

MR SPEAKER: I will deal with you in a moment. Mr Moore, if there is any matter that has been - - -

MR MOORE: Mr Speaker, I will withdraw any imputation.

MR SPEAKER: Thank you. I remind members not to interject. You might get more than you bargained for, it appears, in the exchanges.

MR MOORE: Mr Speaker, there are a number of things in the Territory health budget that I think it is particularly important to look at. I quite agree with some of the issues Mr Berry raises. The most important of them is that this health budget is not a budget that was cut, as was the indication of this Government when it came into the Assembly some years ago. On the contrary, it has been propped up by a substantial injection of funds. Mr Speaker, I think that, no matter who was running the system, with that kind of injection of funds, the budget would have been able to improve on its previous level.

Mr Speaker, it is also interesting that, when looking at the budget, one can see that there have been considerable savings made in one element of health. But they have been respent in the health area and have not come out of the general budget area, where we are still running a deficit. Mr Speaker, I think the issue of health and the Department of Health is always going to be one that is difficult for whoever is managing it. It seems to me that, wherever there is a possibility of getting more money, in an area like health, it can be spent. One of the ironies of health, as was explained in the Estimates Committee, is that, with advances in technology, in many other areas money can actually be saved; but in health, invariably when there are advances in technology, they cost more and require higher skills to ensure that the new technologies can reach the individuals who are needing assistance. Mr Speaker, that is one of the underlying issues.

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