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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 1 Hansard (17 February) . . Page.. 196 ..

Mr Hargreaves: He was wrong.

MR STANHOPE: He was absolutely wrong. In a secret ballot of all nurses at the Canberra Hospital, Mr Moore was absolutely rebuffed after inflammatory stories in the Canberra Times about how they were out of touch. They showed him who was out of touch. Mr Moore was completely out of touch. He did not understand what was going on at the Canberra Hospital. He did not understand the pressure that the staff were under and they told him in no uncertain terms. He dared them to go to a secret ballot. They took him on and they rebuffed him absolutely. It is this notion of not listening, of scaring, of making those sorts of suggestions that has driven Mr Moore to meddle in the day-to-day management of the hospital. The same notion drove him to take back the delegation for approving staff appointments. I think there is nobody in this place that was not stunned to learn that Mr Moore had insisted that he personally approve every single appointment made at the Canberra Hospital. One has a vision of Mr Moore appointing all the staff, attending every interview panel and being part of the process.

But what is the message? What is the message that this is sending to Mr Rayment? What is the message that this is sending to staff at the Canberra Hospital? What is the message that this is sending to the unions? The unions welcomed Mr Rayment's appointment as a sign that perhaps at last there was a senior manager who was prepared to listen. The ANF greeted the appointment of Mr Rayment and said that they were prepared to work with him in a consultative and constructive way. The message which Mr Moore is now sending and which he has consistently sent to the staff of the Canberra Hospital is the wrong message. Perhaps Mr Moore would be better off leaving the management of the hospital to the hospital managers. Perhaps he would be better off applying more attention to the primary responsibilities of his portfolio. Perhaps he should put aside his personal Assembly agenda, abandon whatever projects he has in mind and concentrate on the truly important tasks at hand. For instance, his personal agenda of saving us all from litter: You do not have the time to devote yourself to that sort of nonsense, Mr Moore.

Mr Speaker, I initiated this debate today because of the grave concern this side of the house has in relation to the status of the Territory's public health system. Affordable, accessible and excellent health care is one of the great aspirations shared by the Canberra community and it is at risk. That is evidenced by the litany of failings of the Minister in the past year and the Government in the past four years. I initiated this debate to give the Minister an opportunity to put the record straight. Reveal the extent of the problems. Tell us the reasons for the massive budget overrun at Canberra Hospital? What areas of the hospital's operations are the cause of the blow-out? How and when will they be addressed? Tell us now how you plan to address the burgeoning waiting lists for elective surgery and abandon the tired excuses that you and the Government have rolled out before.

To date, the nearest the Minister has come to revealing a strategy to repair the damage suffered by the Territory's public health system was to refuse to rule out privatising all or part of the system. In this, of course, he demonstrates how fused he is to the Liberal agenda. But it is an agenda that does not wash with the Canberra community. Minister, if you thought the community was against the sale of ACTEW, I dare you to persist with trying to sell the hospital. I initiated this debate to put the Government and the Minister on notice. The people of Canberra understand all is not well in the public health system.

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