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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 10 Hansard (27 August) . . Page.. 2883 ..

MR SMYTH (continuing):

There is the issue of the slush fund, the money kept aside for growth, money wisely put aside by the previous government and for which we were soundly bagged out by the then opposition for not allocating funds. We allocated those funds for 2001-02, but we cannot see here a further allocation of funds. We have a contradiction that only the part-time Health Minister can answer. How can he criticise us for factoring in growth and not allocating for that growth and then do exactly the same himself? It defies belief, Mr Speaker.

The average figure for the last three years under the Liberal government was 20 per cent growth, or an average of 6.67 per cent. For Labor over this year and the next two years it will be 9.2 per cent or an average growth of 3 per cent, half of what we put into the health budget for the hospital. And then we have this curious thing called a clawback which the Labor government is applying to all of its departments and which is particularly relevant in the health budget. They gave with one hand and they took back with the other, with savings, productivity and the rationalisation of services growing in the outyears. The amount is $1.6 million this year and $2.4 million in the following three years. Yes, they did give some additional money this year, $8.7 million, in the second appropriation bill, and then they started taking it back.

If you are looking at how to achieve a sustainable health budget into the future, you will not find it in this budget. What you will find in this budget is an inability to manage a system by a minister who has no idea and who in the lead-up to an election made the glib statement: "We will give you $6 million and it will fix everything." It fixed it all right; it fixed it so that you get to wait longer to get on the operating table for elective surgery, it fixed it so that access to accident and emergency has had to be rationed, it fixed it so that you have to wait longer to get outpatient services, which have been reduced by $8,000 this year, and so the list goes on. Mr Speaker, you cannot throw money around and have decreases in services and then say that you have managed well; it is not logical. What we will see with the removal of controls by this government is a blow-out in the health budget and a blow-out in the hospital budget.

The Labor Party made the following statement in the lead-up to the election:

The effective performance of existing operating theatres (mainly through changes in work practices) can provide increased throughput within existing resources.

Labor believes that there are efficiencies to be gained within the system, and that we can do better within existing resources.

That is absolutely true. The question for our part-time Health Minister is: when might that happen? We heard at the Estimates Committee from staff at both the Calvary Hospital and the Canberra Hospital-

MR SPEAKER: Order! The member's time has expired. Would you like to use your second 10 minutes, Mr Smyth?

MR SMYTH: I would love to use my second 10 minutes, Mr Speaker.

MR SPEAKER: It is not compulsory.

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