Page 609 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 11 February 2009
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
MR HANSON (Molonglo) (11.38): I rise to speak to the motion. I note that this is a draft services plan and in that light, as the Greens have said, this is a matter of hopefully moving forward together to get this to be the plan that the ACT needs. I would like to also be involved in those discussions, where possible, and to be engaged in debate. The Liberals also take this issue very seriously. The end result is to make sure that we have the mental health services plan that this community deserves.
I share a number of concerns with the plan as it stands and I echo many of the sentiments raised by Ms Bresnan and her comment that this is the bare minimum. There is much more that needs to be put into this plan. The minister acknowledged that by saying that this has been a complex and lengthy process and, as we move through it, we have got to make sure we get the right result.
This is one of the most important areas of need in our community. It is a great challenge faced by this government. We are spending a lot of money already on mental health and there is obviously a need to spend that money wisely. As we increase the funding—and there are calls to increase the funding in the Greens-Labor agreement, and we certainly support the appropriate amount of money being spent—what I would say is: let us make sure that we focus on outcomes.
What we do see all too much, and I think Mr Coe used the words very well, is this government—and Labor governments do tend to do this—focusing on inputs rather than outputs. What we do is make sure that, if we do increase funding for mental health, it is linked to our outputs so that we understand what tangible benefits we are actually achieving for our community.
As we know, the ACT currently spends the second highest amount on health in Australia, behind the Northern Territory, but is achieving some of the lowest outcomes and we have much to do to improve our results.
Ms Gallagher: That is not true.
MR HANSON: It is true, whether it be GP rates, where we are the lowest per capita in the country, or our emergency departments, which have the longest waiting times for a number of categories. Our elective surgery rates are the lowest in a number of areas. There has been a decline in areas like breast screening, bed occupancy rates and so on. Certainly, according to the AMA’s report, we have some problems. It is important to keep in mind this dire state of affairs in the whole health system as we move forward so that we have a holistic view of the entire health system because you cannot just isolate mental health from the entire health system.
As the motion states, there has been progressive mental health policy reform occurring across Australia. However, the majority of this reform has actually come from the federal government and through commonwealth national healthcare agreements, through COAG. I commend the previous Howard government for the leadership it took in this process and for the significant advances it made in the cause of mental health nationally during its term in government.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .