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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 8 Hansard (25 August) . . Page.. 2427 ..

MS CARNELL (continuing):

If we are paying more per patient than anywhere else in Australia for nursing services, we have a problem. Is there any indication that our hospitals are that much better than all of the others in Australia? They are good, but are they miles better than St Vincent's, Prince Alfred and all the other hospitals? On all the available benchmarks, no. We are good, but we are not miles ahead.

What are we getting for our money? What are we getting for having the highest paid nurses and the highest nursing cost per cost-weighted separation? At this stage we are getting a whole lot of terms and conditions that are out of kilter with the rest of Australia. We have a career structure that is out of kilter with the rest of Australia. In recent days members of this Assembly have been very interested in talking about the Auditor-General, suggesting that we desperately need to pay attention to the Auditor-General. I am very happy to do that. What does the Auditor-General say about nursing costs? The Auditor-General says that they are significantly higher than in New South Wales. We are paying more for nursing than the people across the boarder are.

The Auditor-General, or the consultant he used, asks why the terms, conditions and career structures in our hospital are out of kilter. Mr Moore said just a minute ago that if the nurses here today would like to accept the New South Wales terms and conditions, their 4 per cent increases, we will accept it now. The reason for that is that New South Wales set national averages, because they are the biggest State. Their effect on Commonwealth Grants Commission figures is significantly bigger than anybody else's. We could accept New South Wales terms and conditions and pay right now. Let us tie our nurses' salaries to New South Wales terms and conditions and pay. Let us start negotiation on that. We can do that, but that is not what is on the table. We can put that on the table right now. That is not a problem.

Mr Berry: That is a cut.

MS CARNELL: Mr Berry says that that is a cut. It certainly is in terms and conditions, and the career path is different. It depends on which bit you look at. It is not a cut in other areas. We are looking at a situation where in the ACT average salaries, when you include superannuation, and even when you do not, are significantly higher than in most parts of Australia. When you include superannuation, they are higher than anywhere else in Australia.

Are staffing levels at our hospital lower than in the rest of Australia? The Auditor-General said that they were very much in line with, if not above, the rest of Australia. We have no problems with having staffing levels in line with acuity and bed numbers. Mr Stanhope indicated that we had cut beds and we had cut nurses. He has got his figures wrong. If you had fewer beds, then you would need fewer nurses. That is a true statement. (Extension of time granted) Mr Stanhope also said that you could at least bring the nurses in line with CPI. The increase for nurses over the last EBA, in fact until just recently - that is, over a three-year period - was just over 13 per cent. CPI was 2 per cent.

Mr Moore: Two per cent per year.

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