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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 14 Hansard (11 December) . . Page.. 5036 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

which really should have been referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions, abuses that were first identified in late 1994 but were never addressed despite further evidence over the following two years, what was the Chief Minister's response? "No-one told me so; it is not my fault".

Mr Moore: Merry Christmas.

Members interjected.

MR BERRY: I would be embarrassed too, boys and girls; I would be embarrassed about this Government. You are the ones who put them there. Chief Minister, no-one told me when I was Minister that the VITAB deal was no good, but I still accept the responsibility. But not the Liberal leader; she dances to a different set of standards. Despite the Auditor-General - - -

MR SPEAKER: The member's tacky time has expired.

MR BERRY: I would like to finish my speech, Mr Speaker. That is customary. (Extension of time granted) This was despite the Auditor finding that Mrs Carnell had kept her salaried specialists well fed, despite the Auditor finding that the salaried specialists' average incomes from outside private practice were seven times higher than a self-employed part-time specialist's average salary, despite the fact that up to one-third of salaried specialists were performing a level of outside private practice which severely impacted on their ability to perform their contracts, and that many were performing outside private practice without approval. Although an accumulation of evidence was available indicating inefficiencies in the delivery of radiology services by salaried specialists, hospital management had not taken action to ensure that the inefficiencies were addressed. Despite all of these findings and this outrageous incompetence, all with Mrs Carnell at the helm, this Minister refuses to accept responsibility. We will, and we do.

I remind the Assembly of another sad episode in the history of the Carnell Government, one that is probably its most tragic and one that the Chief Minister is still unwilling to acknowledge, and that is the former Canberra Hospital implosion. This is despite actively promoting the implosion as a family day out, encouraging people to attend and pointing out the best spots to view the event.

Mr Stefaniak: That is tacky.

MR BERRY: It is true, Bill. You do not like it but it is true. This is despite her being one of the only two shareholders of the project managers of the event, Totalcare, a privilege that she shares with the Minister for Urban Services, Mr Kaine; despite acknowledging that she intended to implode the buildings as early as mid-1995; and despite the implosion event being managed through her own department, the Chief Minister's Department. We needed an apology and we never got one. Mr Speaker, it is probably of little surprise that there are some in the community who believe that the ACT Legislative Assembly does not serve them well. I regret this, but I am not surprised by it.

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