Page 785 - Week 02 - Thursday, 25 February 2010
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
opposed, outright, point blank. There was no consideration of the issues that the government faces; no consideration of the need for greater efficiencies.
Of course, your practice was to run a system at 130 per cent of the national average. You were content to try to run health at 30 per cent above the national average—30 per cent of funding you could not put into new programs, extra specialties, the creation of a medical school; the sorts of things that we do.
The Follett government left with 780 beds. The Carnell government, the Liberals: you took 114 beds out of the system. You ran a service at 30 per cent above the national average—the most inefficient. You did not actually deal with the issues that the system faced. You left it to those that came after you. What we have done is increase the number of beds by 255. What we have done is actually reduce inefficiencies to the point where it is now an efficient operation. What we have done is produce the best bed occupancy rates since self-government. What we have done is increase the number of beds to above the national average—from a position of way behind the national average when the Liberals were in government.
These are all facts. You failed miserably in health. That is why you were chucked out of government—your history of activity, your laziness; your refusal to grasp and grapple with the real issues; your refusal to even contemplate or work with the government in relation to the need to create an integrated system in relation to the Calvary hospital; your complete determination to oppose for opposition’s sake. Everything that you have done can be characterised as opposition for opposition’s sake: a lazy government, too lazy to do the work, too lazy to do the research, just grasping populist issues along the way, opposition for opposition’s sake, completely hopeless—and an explanation of why you were thrown out of government last time and will never get back.
MR DOSZPOT (Brindabella) (4.16): I am very pleased to be able to speak to and support the matter of public importance that Mr Hanson has brought to us today. Mr Hanson has provided us with a litany of failures by this government when it comes to the delivery of health services in the ACT—a damning insight into the performance of this government and all the ministers that have presided over this situation for nearly 10 years now, and the current minister is included. We have seen the head-in-the-sand, cover-our-backsides attitude that is so prevalent in this government and so notably illustrated by the Chief Minister here this afternoon, who for 10 minutes could say nothing good about what this health minister has done or delivered. He spent 10 minutes going back 10 years into history. Mr Stanhope, if that is the best you can do, you might as well hand over now and just step down as Chief Minister, because this is absolutely shameful.
We have seen eight years of inaction by this government, eight years of inaction by ACT Labor, in addressing our GP crisis, and as a result we now have the lowest number of GPs per capita in Australia. This health minister’s failure to address our GP shortage has led to a situation where we risk a two-tiered primary health system developing in Canberra where people cannot access a GP. For the past eight years this government have kept denying that they have any responsibility for GP numbers and have refused to take any action. The recommendations of the GP task force that were
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video