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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 02 Hansard (Tuesday, 2 March 2004) . . Page.. 494 ..

the most isolated part of the country. Let me demonstrate just how bad the performance of hospitals is in the ACT. The ACT provided only 265 hospital treatments per $1 million expended, compared to the national average of 331 hospital treatments.

Mr Corbell said earlier that this government is doing a number of things, such as replacing equipment and paying its doctors and nurses. Is he suggesting that the ACT government is doing all those things but that every other hospital system in the country is not? Is every other hospital not replacing equipment, doctors and nurses or looking for additional registrars? This Productivity Commission report compares apples with apples. When we compare apples with apples, the ACT comes out looking pretty pathetic. When everyone else is shown as being in decline, the ACT is shown as being in bigger decline.

I have long held the view—a view that I have expressed before in this place—that the Stanhope government cannot run a bath, let alone govern a city. That statement is given weight when we look at the way in which this government runs the ACT hospital system. What concerns me greatly about current issues regarding hospital services and outcomes is the attitude of the minister. Yesterday the minister made a desperate attempt to gain relevance in this debate by issuing a press release in which he said:

ACT Liberals want to run our public hospitals on the cheap...

Whenever there is some doubt about any issue in the ACT this government blames the former government. Earlier, I misled members when I referred to section 11A in the budget estimates. I should have referred to section 11B, which refers to the blame game and states:

Nothing works better than pointing out that an area of concern or attack is the fault or the responsibility of another. That is particularly so when a previous ACT government is responsible or did not address the problem while in office. If possible, always mention B, neglect of the ACT.

This Government has been in office for 27 months. It is time that it stood on its feet and said, “It is our fault.” The minister can no longer say, “Do not blame me. I am just a little kid who is new at this.” The minister is not a little kid, and he is not new at this. He is the Minister for Health. He has held that portfolio for the past 12 months or so and he has presided over a catastrophe. In an attempt to cover his confusion, he issued a press release entitled, “Liberals want to run Public Hospitals on the cheap”, which states:

I cannot believe that the Liberals are criticising the Government for spending more money on health...

Labor is focused on quality—quality outcomes for the people of Canberra.

Let me put the record straight. The former Liberal government never ran—and it never will run—the hospital system on the cheap. The difference is that when we spend more money in the hospital system we ensure better outcomes for people. If Labor and Simon Corbell are concentrating on quality outcomes, why are the people of Canberra not getting more money for their extra dollars? I will refer to a couple of cases that have come to my attention. Last year, midway through the basketball season, the daughter of a friend of mine seriously ruptured her knee while playing netball.

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