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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 14 Hansard (11 December) . . Page.. 4235 ..

MR SPEAKER: Mr Smyth, you might not have been helped by one of your colleague's interjections.

MR STANHOPE: We will have to adjust the $200 million costing. We will just have to reduce that bit that applies to the needle exchange for prisoners. We will have to reduce the costing for that. That policy has been wiped. It didn't get through the first party room meeting. The numbers were not there. Can you imagine Senator-elect Pratt, can you imagine Senator-elect Stefaniak, copping a needle exchange for prisoners?

Mr Smyth: On a point of order, Mr Speaker: it is a very simple question. It is about his health action plan; it is about whether or not he has costed it. One would normally expect a very simple answer.

MR SPEAKER: Point well taken. Come to the subject matter, Chief Minister.

MR STANHOPE: I will. I will actually go through some of the individual items that-

Mr Humphries: It is your policy we are asking about.

MR STANHOPE: That is what I am doing-just let me finish. Mr Smyth has drawn attention to certain items within the action plan. We spoke in the broad about our strategy for health-care delivery. Let me go to some of the individual items that Mr Smyth has drawn attention to in his Liberal Party policy document on health-I will go to "Improving health care through information management technology".

Mr Smyth believes that the health information network will be expanded beyond the public system to include pharmacists and GPs by June 2004. The department has quite concrete costings on that. This is one area where the costings are quite complete. As members know, we have been working on that issue for some years. Indeed, it was a policy position that was put by Mr Moore, and now his successor, the person who is now implementing the Liberal Party strategy document on health, has picked it up.

The health information network has been costed in the terms that Mr Smyth has relayed and with the target that Mr Smyth puts on it, namely that it will be fully implemented by June 2004 and will cost around about $25 million in terms of the IT upgrade that would be required. So Mr Smyth believes that this government should implement this by June 2004. Let me tell you now: we had no intention of implementing this by June 2004. So tell me where is your $25 million coming from?

Mr Smyth: When? No intention-

MR STANHOPE: No, Mr Smyth. Where is your $25 million coming from between now and June next year? Mr Smyth, you have got 18 months, one budget, to find $25 million for a health information network. That is just one item out of $200 million. This is so irresponsible. What hypocrisy, what irresponsibility! On the day before Mr Humphries brings in the Costing of Election Commitments Bill and the Financial Legislation (Integrity and Responsibility) Amendment Bill, Mr Smyth promises to spend $200 million between now and June 2004, with $25 million just on an information list. Where is the money coming from, Mr Smyth? What are you going to cut, which taxes are you going to put up?

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