Page 1367 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 24 March 2010
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
As Mr Seselja has said, the Canberra Liberals will be looking at this proposal with an open mind. We are not here, as is characterised by the Deputy Chief Minister today, to oppose this proposal. There has been nothing that has been said that says we will oppose this proposal. We will be looking to see whether this is, as the Deputy Chief Minister says, the only way to do things. I am not at this stage convinced that it is the only way to do things, but it is incumbent upon the Deputy Chief Minister to explain it if she wants to spend $70 million of taxpayers’ money that could be spent on hospital beds, on more nurses or on a range of other health facilities, as the AMA said. The AMA said very early in the piece, “If you want to spend that sort of money in health—
Ms Gallagher: It is capital money.
MRS DUNNE: Oh, here we go! You can just spend it on capital upgrades, new beds and new equipment if you like. If you wanted to actually spend that money in the health system, there are a lot more productive ways of doing it, as was highlighted by the AMA when this matter first came to light publicly in April. Again, I point out that every time the Deputy Chief Minister hears something she does not like, she talks over people. This is form for her: she likes to dish it out, but she cannot take it herself.
I would like to congratulate Mr Hanson on his motion today and for his cooperative work in dealing with the Greens and coming to a consensus on this motion. I commend the motion to the house.
Mr Hanson’s amendments to Ms Bresnan’s proposed amendments agreed to.
Ms Bresnan’s amendments, as amended, agreed to.
MR SPEAKER: The question is that Mr Hanson’s motion, as amended, be agreed to.
MR HANSON (Molonglo) (12.20): In closing, I would like to thank members for their contributions. This is an important debate that we have had today. It ultimately is about the future health of the ACT as well as about disclosure from this government to make sure not only that we are getting the best results in terms of health care for our residents but that we actually understand what is going on behind the closed doors.
I thank the Greens for the work they did with me on the amendments. Some of the changes that they made have somewhat watered down the motion where we were portraying an accurate reflection of what has occurred in the process to date. But in the interests of making sure that we get from the government the information that I think requires to be put on the table for the public to understand what is going on, I welcome their support for this motion.
I reiterate the point that we stand willing to be convinced, that we will consider this in good faith. We obviously do have a number of concerns and we are somewhat sceptical about the government’s motives and the way they conduct this process. But once we receive all the information and we have the process of speaking to all the stakeholders, we will look at this deal for what it is, and it will be done in the interests
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video