Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 1 Hansard (17 February) . . Page.. 227 ..

MS CARNELL (continuing):

Mr Speaker, to make those comparisons, I would have to say that just about every health system in this country at the moment has budget problems; every health system has waiting list problems; every health system is approaching the waiting list from a perspective of waiting time; every health system is moving - along similar lines to Mr Moore and, before Mr Moore, to me - more patients out in community-based care. When you actually go down a path of making the comments that this motion does, I think it is important to understand exactly what base you are working from.

If that is the case in other parts of Australia, let us have a look at what happened in health generally under the previous Government. Mr Berry and Labor had five health budgets. They achieved four blow-outs. All up, overruns totalled more than $23m - and that is just in cash terms. Let us not forget that at the same time Labor closed nearly 200 hospital beds, leaving the ACT with the fewest beds per capita of any State or Territory.

Mr Stanhope seemed to be worried about waiting lists for elective surgery, and I would agree with him totally. Mr Speaker, as you would be aware, during the first term of this Government, waiting lists were reduced by 26 per cent - very much in line with our election promise in 1995. But what happened under Labor? Under Labor, waiting lists increased from 1,789 to 4,569 - actually very much the same as they were under Mr Berry a whole heap of years ago, and we have got heaps more people in the ACT now. Put simply, they more than doubled in 31/2 years. So, I find it very difficult to understand how Mr Stanhope, or for that matter any members opposite, could stand up and complain about the handling of health from this side of the Assembly.

Mr Stanhope: What, four-and-a-half thousand people on the waiting list?

MS CARNELL: It is what Mr Berry had four years ago. In that time, of course, the population of the ACT has increased significantly. Mr Speaker, for those opposite to bellyache is simply ridiculous. Under Mr Berry, average waiting times exceeded - wait for this - five months. Mr Speaker, it was the second worst of any State or Territory. That has been significantly improved. Mr Stanhope just said that nothing has changed. Mr Stanhope, that has changed. Average waiting times have significantly improved.

Mr Speaker, the other thing that has changed significantly, of course, is the throughput in our hospitals. Over that period of time, the number of patients that we see, the number of cost-weighted separations, has increased significantly. So, not only were the comments about waiting lists and budgets simply hypocritical, Mr Speaker; but they failed to recognise the very real improvements that have been made in health generally.

Mr Speaker, comments were also made about health bosses being removed from the job. Under the last Labor Government, from memory, there were four different Health Department bosses in four years.

Mr Berry: None were sacked.

MS CARNELL: Mr Berry said, "None were sacked". Does that mean that they just left because they could not cope with Mr Berry? It must. Mr Speaker, under that Labor Government too, there were at least three different chief executives of Woden Valley Hospital in four years. So, we managed to go through one head of department,

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .