Page 3666 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 21 November 2007
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MS GALLAGHER: Mrs Burke comes into this place and says that we are 24 per cent above benchmark; we are not. The published figures show that we are not 24 per cent above benchmark. Mrs Burke comes in here and says we have seen a 25 per cent increase in administrative staff. We have not. The actual number of health administrative staff has decreased by 15 per cent this year.
Mrs Burke: Are the figures out then?
MS GALLAGHER: The figures are out. The annual reports are there, the budget papers are there, the AIHW reports—all of those reports are there. This system is so accountable and so transparent that, if you took the time to undertake your shadow responsibilities properly and read the reports, you would see that what you are saying is wrong. You come in here and say that the Labor Party plucked 200 beds from the hospital system. You have got no proof that that happened. The only proof that you have got is a quote from, I think, Kate Carnell at the time. We have done the work; we have gone back and had a look. There is no such thing as 200 beds being cut from the system. So come in here and substantiate your point. Come in here and substantiate it with evidence. You cannot do it.
Last week I think there was a reference to the health budget being $700 million. No, it is not. The health budget is $802 million. You were only $100 million out; I don’t think that matters! You just ripped $100 million out of the health budget but you would not notice that, would you? I am saying that you have to come in with your facts straight, and you do not. You come in with your facts all over the place because you do not really care. You do not have the responsibility that I have, which is to make sure that all the information is correct.
Mr Stefaniak walked in and read an email from someone last week, bagging the health system and telling about their experience. I have been briefed on the situation relating to that. I cannot come in here and respond to that because I am bound by the health records act. I cannot do what you do every single day, which is to walk in, raise allegations and read out patients’ records. I cannot respond. In a way, I am in an unfair position compared to you—
Mrs Burke: No, you are not. You have got the whole department—
MS GALLAGHER: You do not seem to be bound by the health records act.
MR DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Minister, direct your remarks through the chair, just as I asked Mrs Burke to do previously. Mrs Burke, stop winding the minister up. We might get through the debate properly if both sides can apply those principles.
MS GALLAGHER: This government has invested in health significantly. It has not just been about money; it has been about system changes, patient safety and quality, establishing processes for clinical review, clinical privileges processes, getting our complaints handling policies right, managing patient flow, and looking forward to see what demand we are experiencing. It has been about creating a health system for the future that delivers for our community. Not once have we had from the opposition,
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