Page 2347 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 28 June 2005
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Mr Seselja: He hasn’t withdrawn it.
MR SPEAKER: Just withdraw the lot.
MR HARGREAVES: I will withdraw the lot. Mr Speaker, what is really abominable in this situation is that we are going through a restructure. I have been honest and aboveboard in this. I have described exactly in this place how it is going to work. I have described exactly the numbers that are going to work. If Mr Pratt says I haven’t then he has to go back, after his remedial reading classes, and look at the Hansard. He is picking them off one at a time and he ought to be thoroughly ashamed of himself. It ain’t going to happen, Mr Pratt.
Mr Pratt: We’ll see it in the wash, John.
MR SPEAKER: Order, Mr Pratt! Mr Hargreaves has the call.
MR HARGREAVES: Thanks very much, Mr Speaker. I am restructuring the overmanagement and the overadministration that I inherited from this lot. We have removed the purchaser/provider model completely because the purchaser/provider model overadministered and overmanaged the place. Who was it exactly who introduced that model? I wonder, he says, metaphorically and rhetorically. It was that lot over that side of the chamber. It wasn’t us. It was that lot, and I intend to remove the purchaser/provider model and therefore eliminate overmanagement and overadministration. What we are about is making sure that the services at the sharp end—that is, Canberra Connect shopfronts, Mr Pratt—will in fact be enhanced.
Mr Pratt: How many new positions will you be creating?
MR SPEAKER: I warn you, Mr Pratt.
MR HARGREAVES: Oh, Mr Speaker, I have to say attacking little people like this is an appalling abuse of this chamber’s authority, influence, power—call it what you will. We have a responsibility out there to articulate issues. I have no objection to people opposing my positions on a policy perspective but I urge members in this place to not frighten people unnecessarily. Your crowd did it before. These are people who, when they were in government and we were in opposition, threatened to take away 19 CityScape positions. They went out there and identified 19 positions and they frightened not only those people but also their families and the children of those people. You should be very careful. I urge members of the opposition to be very careful. This is a restructure. This is not about attacking the little person. That is the Kevin Andrews look on life. We do not espouse that. We have taken the department with us in this particular restructure. Mr Pratt would be well served by just sitting back for a moment and considering whether he is making a fool of himself and whether he is frightening people unnecessarily, because I say to you, sir, that that is exactly what you are doing.
Health—birthing centre
DR FOSKEY: My question is to the Minister for Health. I am informed that the choices available to pregnant women in the ACT for birthing are declining rapidly. Can the
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