Page 762 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 29 March 2006
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climate change strategy and energy policy discussion papers on 13 March, without a media release and with the only media coverage being a short precursor story in the Canberra Times the day before. I understand stakeholder organisations were sent copies of the discussion papers and offered meetings, while a number of other contacts were simply advised of their otherwise silent release. I note that solar hot water companies do not appear to have been included on either list, whereas coal-fired electricity businesses were. Also, while I was apparently one of the people to be advised of the release of the papers, I received no such advice and I have no idea who else missed out. Furthermore, no schedule of the public consultation meetings, which began last night, was included with the advice when it was sent out and, while those meetings were advertised in the newspaper last weekend, emails advising of those meetings were only received the day before.
Mr Mulcahy: Is there a question coming, Mr Speaker?
MR SPEAKER: Is there a question in this?
DR FOSKEY: My question is: is the government’s failure to actively promote these discussion papers and the associated public meetings a deliberate strategy to limit community engagement with the issue?
MR STANHOPE: No.
Dr Foskey: Sorry, could you repeat the answer?
MR STANHOPE: No.
MR SPEAKER: I guess you want a supplementary question.
DR FOSKEY: Yes, one that cannot just have a yes or no answer. Does the ACT government’s community engagement policy apply to the Office of Sustainability in the Chief Minister’s Department and can the Chief Minister provide the Assembly with a copy of the strategy developed for this important process?
MR STANHOPE: Yes, it does, and I am more than happy to do that, although I would have thought that it would have been available to Dr Foskey, and she gave some indication in her preamble that that was her understanding. So the answer is yes and yes.
Canberra Hospital—patient treatment
MRS BURKE: My question is to the Minister for Health, Mr Corbell. Minister, on 19 February this year a woman was taken by ambulance from Braidwood to the Canberra Hospital with a badly broken arm. It took an astonishing 95 hours for a theatre to become available for her surgery, during which time she was occupying a bed and on a morphine drip. She was told that the reason for the delay was that orthopaedic surgeons can only use one particular theatre, which is also the theatre used for surgery for major trauma and emergencies. Minister, you should be aware of this particular case, as the person wrote to you on 20 March. Minister, is it the case that there is only one theatre available for orthopaedic surgery at the Canberra Hospital? If so, why?
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