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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 9 Hansard (4 September) . . Page.. 2926 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

abusing that right in any way or not making up their time or whatever else. That is the basis of the implementation program that we have in place at the moment - making sure that specialists are doing the right thing. That, seriously, has to be the bottom line here.

MR WOOD: I have a supplementary question, Mr Speaker. Chief Minister, will you take steps to determine whether any breast cancer patients from the Canberra Hospital requiring mammography have been referred to a private practice operated by salaried medical officers? Secondly, could you ensure that some of the $9.7m sitting in the private practice fund is used to purchase some much needed new mammography equipment for the Canberra Hospital?

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, I heard Mr Berry make comments this morning on radio that suggested that somehow we did not have any mammography services operating at Canberra Hospital and that all of the people that needed - - -

Mr Humphries: That is not true.

MRS CARNELL: It is not true. You are quite right, Mr Humphries. I was surprised when Mr Berry said that, but in the short timeframe I did not have an opportunity to correct him. The majority of screening for breast cancer is performed, as Mr Berry said, through the breast screening clinic in Civic. But mammography is still performed at the Canberra Hospital, although the demand is quite small. I think on average there are about 10 patients per week who use this service. Mammography is performed at the hospital mainly to locate or to localise breast lesions for the purposes of biopsy. Certainly, those services do exist in the public system at Canberra Hospital, contrary to the comments made by the shadow Health Minister this morning.

MS HORODNY: My question is to the Minister for Environment, Land and Planning. Minister, just over a year ago I asked you a question about when the Government will be releasing its nature conservation strategy for the ACT. You will be aware that under section 15S of the Nature Conservation Act this strategy was supposed to have been prepared as soon as practicable after the commencement of this section of the Act in 1994, and that is some three years ago now. Mr Humphries, your answer a year ago was not very informative. Can you tell us when we are going to see both the nature conservation strategy and the action plans for species declared endangered under the Nature Conservation Act?

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, taking the second part of the question first, a number of action plans are in the process of being developed at the moment. I understand that a number of them have been through the Flora and Fauna Committee of the ACT and I am aware that a number of others are presently in the process of being considered by that and other internal organs including, I think, the Environment Advisory Committee of the ACT. However, I do not have a full picture of the state of play with any of those matters and I should provide Ms Horodny and the house with a full picture. I will take that question and the part relating to the nature conservation strategy on notice.

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