Page 152 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 15 February 2012
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On the same day in the chamber, the minster also made it clear that the walk-in centre could move. In response to a question without notice from Dr Bourke, the minister said, “I think one of the challenges will be not to have it”—that is, the walk-in centre—“at the hospital site.”
In a media release from Medicare Local on the consultation, they stated on this particular issue that they wanted the walk-in centre to be relocated to a GP practice. Obviously there is a different take on where they think it should be relocated, but again it is something that has been noted by other stakeholders in relation to this issue.
The media release issued on the ALP website under Ms Gallagher’s name could have been somewhat confusing to someone who had not followed the debate, and it probably should have been clearer. The Canberra Times article issued the next day was, however, quite clear, in my mind. Perhaps it is a case that other parties were more aware of the subject matter than the Liberals were, and that is why they understood the content.
With regard to the funding matters Mr Hanson has raised, I have to say that it seems strange to be criticising the government for not having appropriated a budget for something when they have not yet actually decided on the full model.
While the Greens have been satisfied with the progress on this first walk-in clinic to date, the making of an election promise does beg the question of whether Labor knew they were promising more than they could actually deliver. I do acknowledge, as I did earlier, that the sort of concerns raised by medical practitioners could not necessarily have been envisaged, but again it is an issue worth noting and worth discussing, as Mr Hanson has raised. In hindsight, we could say that the government promised more than it could deliver.
I am unclear, however, as to what is the Canberra Liberals’ policy with regard to nurse-led walk-in clinics. We have not actually heard any statement about that as yet. Does Mr Hanson think the ACT should have walk-in centres at all? If so, where should they be located? The motion today does not have any of that content in it and I did not hear any of it in Mr Hanson’s speech. We are waiting to hear about that. While Mr Hanson wishes to critique the government for not having already established three walk-in centres, I have not yet heard anything about whether Mr Hanson actually wants any walk-in centres. Mr Hanson needs to say what he would do differently and whether he supports the idea at all.
It is also worth raising some of the promises made by the Liberals during the 2008 election. I distinctly recall that at a Mental Health Community Coalition election forum Mr Smyth committed the Canberra Liberals to the target of 12 per cent of health funding going to mental health. However, since that time the Liberals have done nothing but attack the target that the Greens included in the parliamentary agreement and make claims to the effect that the Greens want to take nurses away from hospitals and that sort of thing, which ignores the fact that they themselves committed to that goal.
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