Page 4345 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 27 November 2013

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have raised concerns before and those concerns were denied—be it about elective surgery, be it about obstetricians—those concerns were proven valid, despite the denials, despite the attacks on doctors.

We are seeing a repeat of form. Because I tell you that when the concerns were raised by the obstetricians, the attack on those obstetricians by this minister, Ms Gallagher, and her then Chief Minister, Jon Stanhope, was disgusting. Because they dared raise concerns that were proved correct, the then Chief Minister and the then health minister, Ms Gallagher, went out and threatened to have obstetricians’ cases relitigated by the medical board to dredge for trouble, to scare those doctors off. The minister was essentially accused of a witch-hunt, and that is what it was. So coming in here all pious and telling us that we should not talk about things that are misleading when that is what this government is doing to their own doctors is disgraceful. The behaviour of this government over a protracted period in its response to serious allegations that are made and that in all cases have been proved to be correct is to immediately deny and to attack those doctors and to do everything to bury the response, and that is disgusting.

We will continue to dig on this. We will continue to hold this government to account. It is not as if Ms Gallagher can allege some attack by me on the hardworking health staff. The people who are attacking the health staff right here and right now are the people who are saying to the doctors that they are liars, the people who are saying to the doctors that they are false and misleading when they have raised these concerns. Then they have the contradiction in their argument to accuse me of the same thing—and rightly so, because it is unparliamentary. I will leave this issue now by saying that we will not let this rest. We will continue to dig on this issue. I will continue to call for this investigation to clarify what is happening here, because a denial from the Chief Minister, as we have seen in this place, means absolutely nothing.

Motion, as amended, agreed to.

Alexander Maconochie Centre—capacity

MR HANSON (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (5.47): I move:

That this Assembly:

(1) notes:

(a) in 2006, due to budget blowouts, the ACT Labor Government cut the capacity of the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC) to 300;

(b) in 2007, the ACT Labor Government assured the community and the Assembly the AMC would have capacity for 25 years with 300 beds;

(d) the ACT Government was advised on a number of occasions prior to cutting the capacity to 300, that the capacity of the AMC would need to be significantly more than 300; and

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