Page 143 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 14 February 2018
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MRS JONES (Murrumbidgee) (12.13): I find it disappointing that the party who are supposed to represent the wellbeing of workers and who will put that out at every opportunity will vote against a measure to explain to the workers of ACTAS, our Ambulance Service, how it is that we came to a position where their lives are so untenable in their own work that they are calling out for help from the opposition. It is interesting that yet again the Greens are in lock step behind the government in helping them to hide the reasons why they are failing and not explaining themselves properly to the community.
We are not here because we are some kind of gods and goddesses. We are here because we are elected by the people to serve them. It would be good of the minister to actually pay attention to the rights of the people of this community, to know when the government is failing them, to know why that has occurred and to explain, to apologise and to commit to fixing the problems that we have in our ambulance service.
I reiterate that this problem is not a problem that I have created or that I have formulated for some sort of political benefit. This is something that has been brought to me by the men and women in the Ambulance Service. It has been brought to me clearly because they do not think that anyone on the other side will listen to them. That is a damning situation.
As Mr Wall pointed out, when an ambulance is not available the first responders are the fire service. I know this, for example, from having had a conversation just this week with people at Raiders Weston Club. When they recently called an ambulance for someone who was having medical difficulties in their facility, the fire service turned up. Good for them that they had someone available to help them, but it is another example.
I would also like to draw the minister’s attention to the fact that he has stated in his answer that, because time lines are clearly being met, there is not too much being asked of employees in this service. That clearly is not true. They are only being met because of the very good nature of the people who work in this area. I implore you to consider their wellbeing a little more carefully than has happened to this point.
I am pleased to hear that there will be additional recruitment rounds. I hope that we will see an easing of the problem. I am convinced that the government will find a way of measuring their own achievements that makes it look less bad for them, but I still think that there is a wide gap in this debate, which is an explanation as to how we got to this position in the first place. In closing, I am sad to see that politics has won out over good workforce management. I hope we will see a resolution to it. I am sorry to see the government covering up their own mistakes again.
Mr Gentleman’s amendment agreed to.
Original question, as amended, resolved in the affirmative.
Health—investment and planning
MS CHEYNE (Ginninderra) (12.16): I move:
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