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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 1 Hansard (17 February) . . Page.. 249 ..

MR KAINE (continuing):

and it may not coincide with what the community requires from the hospital at all. I would like the motion, if it gets to a vote shortly, to reflect actually the requirement of the community rather than some statement by the Government.

There is another point that I would like to make on that issue. When you impose such a contract on hospital management somebody at the management level must agree to sign it, I presume. Whether they do it willingly or whether they are told, "Your contract with the Government depends on you signing this contract to deliver services", they probably sign it anyway, but there is the big question of the degree to which all of those people who work in the hospital actually subscribe to what is set down in that agreement. They seem to be obligated under some contractual arrangement to deliver, but to what extent do they claim ownership of that?

One of the reasons why things in the hospital are not coming out the way we would like them to is perhaps that they have this kind of contractual obligation imposed upon them from above. They have had nothing to do with the development of it and perhaps they are not committed to delivering the services that the Government wants to the quantity and the standards that the Government thinks is appropriate. If this amendment from Mr Smyth succeeds I think it ought to state not so much what the Government chooses to put into an annual purchase agreement, but rather "that the Government effectively manage the hospital system by ensuring that the services required by the community are delivered, and delivered within the budget".

MR SMYTH (Minister for Urban Services) (4.36): Mr Deputy Speaker, we would be delighted to accept Mr Kaine's amendment.

MR STANHOPE (Leader of the Opposition) (4.36): I will speak briefly to the amendments. I will wrap up later. Before we deal with those amendments I want to make just a couple of quick points. The points that I want to make go to my disappointment with the attitude that the Government has adopted today in relation to the debate. I will quote a couple of things that I said in my opening speech this morning. I said then that we chose to couch the motion in the terms that we have in order to allow the Minister and the Government an opportunity to allay the alarm and concern which all of us feel about the management of the health portfolio. I will quote again what I said this morning:

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.

I went on:

I initiated this debate to give the Minister the opportunity to put the record straight. Reveal the extent of the problems. Tell us the reasons for the massive budget overrun at Canberra Hospital.

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