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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 1 Hansard (19 February) . . Page.. 137 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

This policy has not shifted people out of the public hospital system and into the private hospital system and has not relieved the pressure on public hospitals, but it has cost all taxpayers $2 billion. It is important that we acknowledge that and put the pressure on the Commonwealth government to accept that its policy has been a failure and to move on.

The government will not be supporting Mr Smyth's amendment No 1, because it would remove the very important point that $2 billion spent on failed public policy cannot just be swept under the carpet. That must be acknowledged, and we must move forward from that.

MS TUCKER (11.12): I will speak to Mr Smyth's amendment, now called amendment No 1, which changes Mr Hargreaves words, regarding the failure of the private health insurance rebate policy to address the problems in public health, by calling on the Commonwealth government to review the Medicare rebate.

I will not support this; I actually support the strength of statement of the original by Mr Hargreaves. The private health insurance rebate policy has not been successful in achieving its aims. It was never a good idea in my view. It is time to let it go and return to a sensible health policy that will actually reach the objective of universal health care.

As I said during the debate some time ago, the private health insurance rebate could be used to fund dental health services, aged care health services, public hospitals and indigenous health care, and so on. These are suggestions made also by ACOSS and the Public Health Association.

It could also be put into Medicare, of course, and Medicare could again become a fully equitable system. We do not want to become like America, and I trust that our government will be there fighting alongside the other states and territory governments for a return to a universal health care system.

MRS BURKE (11.13): I would like to make a brief comment on the motion put forward by Mr Smyth. It obviously has my full endorsement.

I look with some alacrity at the 15 months since I have been in this place to see that very little has changed. In terms of the two after-hours clinics, we seem not to have established those. It says in the Rebuilding the ACT health service fact sheet put out by the Labor Party that this will be resolved in consultation with the AMA and existing locum services.

I have not heard much in the community about discussions and broad consultations. That concerns me greatly. I want to make sure that we make Labor listen to the people of the ACT and, in particular, the people of Tuggeranong and Gungahlin. Statements like "The ACT health system simply isn't working"are quite true, but what are Labor doing about it at this stage? We need to carefully hold the government to account on their promise of this locum service. Action is needed, not words.

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