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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 1 Hansard (17 February) . . Page.. 206 ..

MR KAINE (continuing):

will be to address the problems in our public hospitals ... too many Canberrans are waiting longer and longer for necessary surgery. I am sure that all members ... believe that it is no longer good enough to spend more and get less.

Very prophetic! She continued:

What is required is fundamental change in the way we manage the system. Some tough decisions will need to be made ...

Four years on you have to ask: What were the tough decisions and when were they made? Back in 1993 and 1995 the Chief Minister was determined to fix it. On 9 May 1995, following the delivery by Ms Carnell of her first budget as Chief Minister and Treasurer, we had this press release by her office:

ACT Health Minister Kate Carnell has outlined a strategy to shift the focus of Canberra's health system back to where it should be - on the treatment of patients.

... unlike the previous government, she would be taking decisive action to address problems within the health system.

I repeat: Four years later, where was the decision-making and how come the problems have not been fixed? Ms Carnell said in the same media release on 9 May 1995:

... the aim of the reforms in the health system would be to provide a better, more accessible and more cost-effective system of health care for the people of the ACT.

And then in September 1995, having brought down her first budget, she put out a media release talking about public sector reforms. I think this is the crux of it:

Outlining a three year budget for the ACT, Mrs Carnell said government agencies would be required to operate within the allocations detailed in this year's budget.

How good was that promise? The one agency that has consistently not met that commitment of operating within its budget is the one that the Chief Minister was personally responsible for - the Department of Health and Community Care.

Just reviewing the facts in a cursory fashion, how good were all these commitments and undertakings to improve the service, do it more cost effectively and get more for less? In 1995-96, the first budget brought down by this Chief Minister and Treasurer, the Health and Community Care budget was around $301m. By the next year, 1996-97, it had jumped to $322m, an increase of over $20m in the very first year that the Chief Minister and Treasurer was running the Department of Health and Community Care. In the current year, 1998-99, the health budget has jumped to close to $343m.

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