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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 2 Hansard (20 February) . . Page.. 396 ..

MR SPEAKER: The Chief Minister has given you your answer, Mrs Cross. Do you wish to add anything further, Chief Minister?

Mrs Cross: Does that sound like an answer to you?

MR SPEAKER: I draw members' attention to standing order 117 (f):

I think we went close with that question. I am sorry.

Gallop report

MR PRATT: My question is for the health minister. Minister, do you accept or reject the Gallop report, or are you just hoping-

MR SPEAKER: Order! I just drew you attention, Mr Pratt, to standing order 117. There is a motion on the notice paper that the report be noted. The government is still to respond to the report. I think you ought to take note of the standing order to which I drew your attention and be careful about how you address the issue.

MR PRATT: Mr Speaker, I will be extremely careful, in accordance with standing orders. My question is for the health minister. Minister, do you accept or reject the Gallop report, or are you just hoping that, as Maureen Turland, a representative of the Allied Health Employees Union, said on 2CN this morning, "This is just another report to be swept under the carpet"?

MR STANHOPE: I did answer this. I will explain it again. The government has put in place a detailed process, a process which has been applauded by the disability sector. One of the aspects of this I do regret is the extent to which you wish to play politics with this, the extent to which you put yourselves out of step with the disability sector in the ACT. The disability sector, in responses to my department and in responses to my office, is generally very satisfied with the framework that has been established for responding to the Gallop report.

Mrs Cross: Not that I heard.

MR STANHOPE: They are. There are some people-and I say this with great advice-who will never be satisfied, just as there are some people who will never understand notions of ministerial responsibility or accept responsibility for their own actions. We have been through that. As I have said-

Mr Humphries: That is an interesting notion.

MR STANHOPE: We might just go to that. We might just go to the issue of something Mr Humphries said this morning on the ABC in his determination to distance his government and, in doing that, to trample on the rights and the position of anybody else who might get in the way of protecting the sacred cow of the Liberal Party and its reputation.

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