Page 3138 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 22 August 2012
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We saw wait times in elective surgery go from 37 to 74 days. This is the sterling system that these people have presided over. With ED times, 80 per cent were seen in the time limits under the Liberal Party and that has declined to less than 60 per cent. That is the disaster that we were talking about, that is the reason this Chief Minister goes, and they are the things that Andrew Barr forgot to tell you.
While he was backgrounding Ross Solly, he probably told Ross Solly and others a whole lot of things, but what we get from Andrew Barr is nothing but glib lines and words. This is a debate about the Chief Minister’s record, but none of the things that I have just mentioned were talked about by those opposite. They do talk about their ability to spend. Yes, the Labor Party can spend, but no matter how much more infrastructure they bring online, albeit late, out of scope and over budget, what they cannot deliver is outcomes for the people of Canberra.
Thank God for the staff of the emergency department and the hospital system, for their efforts, their labours and their dedication, because that is what keeps the system afloat. It is not because of the leadership or the direction of the Chief Minister. After six years the only thing she said as Chief Minister in estimates that had any truth was that she had been there for too long. And Chief Minister, yes, you have, and it is time to go.
If we look at Mr Barr’s defence of his leader, all that it rested on was “well, we spent lots of money”. He then said, “The Liberal Party have got no policies.” But then he ran through a litany of policies that he thought were flawed. So he defeats his own argument.
What we have is repetition from this man but what we do not have is an answer to the motion. Mr Barr was quite pleased to compare the painting of the grass at Bruce stadium with the doctoring of 11,700 records. Shame on you. What he did not tell people, of course, was that he was the minister for tourism when they painted the grass at Floriade. No, he forgot to tell that to people.
Let us look at the nub of his argument. We are comparing grass at Bruce with the doctoring of the health records of people in Katy Gallagher’s health system. That is the sort of comparison he chooses to make because he cannot compare this minister’s performance to a real health minister’s performance and improving outcomes, because the outcomes have not improved. Again it is not us saying it. The Auditor-General says:
… it is apparent that there has been an overall decline in performance over the last ten years.
And those opposite ignore those facts.
Let us move to the Greens. I am surprised that on such a serious motion as a no-confidence motion the convenor of the Greens has not spoken and led the charge from the Greens. But then again perhaps we are not surprised. The reason for the week’s delay is so that people consider their position. The Greens did not take seven seconds
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