Page 551 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 19 March 2014
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Mr Smyth: Now it’s “insinuated”. Tell the truth.
MR RATTENBURY: I chose my words very carefully, Mr Smyth. It was all about giving a clear impression that that was the intention. If we want to talk about how people portray policy positions, we can just look at these couple of examples I have had time to pull together in the couple of hours before this debate to show that our friends across the chamber have no boundaries whatsoever when it comes to their willingness to distort policies, to misrepresent them and to put them out in a way that simply leads the public to think something very different from what was intended by a policy position.
Coming back to this motion today, as I said, the Greens strongly support the government’s plans for the construction of new centres at Belconnen and Tuggeranong. We are glad to see $9 million in last year’s budget for the expansion and enhancement of the Belconnen Community Health Centre and especially to co-locate a walk-in centre at Belconnen as well as open another one in Tuggeranong. We all appreciate the importance of these centres for their role in preventative healthcare and reducing emergency department pressure. These centres will be a great relief for both the north side of Canberra and residents in Tuggeranong.
With the two new walk-in centres at Tuggeranong and Belconnen we do not need to continue to maintain a third walk-in centre co-located with the Canberra Hospital when people can choose to go to one of two walk-in centres or one of two emergency departments, depending on the severity of the medical problem. I believe these two new walk-in centres will be of great benefit to the Canberra community.
As somebody who has made use of them, I think they are an excellent facility. They are ideal for a particular class of injury, and the statistics show they have been embraced by the Canberra community. From conversations I have with people in the street and in the course of business as we meet them, I know people really appreciate the centres as a particular service within the health spectrum. Having them in these new locations will be a great outcome for the community.
MR HANSON (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (4.50), in reply: Based on that speech, it would appear that I am not going to emulate Mr Coe’s success with this motion. As I predicted, the Greens are not supporting this motion. I did think there might be a little bit of concern raised that, yes, we would like the Chief Minister to be a little bit more honest with her statements around the nurse-led walk in centre in the lead-up to elections. But, true to form, the Greens’ Mr Rattenbury has decided to launch into a debate about puppies and rates—anything but the Chief Minister’s honesty. It does appear that—
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Mr Hanson, could you resume your seat for a moment, please?
MR HANSON: Could you stop the clock, please?
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, I will do that.
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