Page 2458 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 14 November 1989
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the Australian Capital Territory. Your petitioners also call upon the Assembly to use all means within its capabilities to influence the Federal Government to ban the importation, production and distribution of X-rated and excessively violent R-rated videos in Australia.
And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
by Mr Kaine (from 13 citizens).
Petition received.
QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Hospitals
MR DUBY: My question is directed to the Minister for Community Services and Health. I refer to recent publicity concerning a reported budget blow-out of $10m in relation to the ACT hospitals system. I wish to know: is that figure of $10m accurate? If not, what is the estimated blow-out at this stage? What steps are you taking to address this overbudget expenditure?
MR BERRY: I thank Mr Duby for the question. Certainly the blow-out, if we can use that rather emotive term about cost overruns, has been the subject of some media reporting recently. The issue was brought to the attention of the Government by the interim hospitals board.
As a result of a request from the interim hospitals board, the Government made available a team from Treasury to investigate the matter and to look at the resources in reporting programs within the hospital to determine what action would be appropriate. It was to report to the Government and, based on that report, the Government could take appropriate action in relation to financial matters within the hospital system.
At this stage I have received an interim report from the team that has been investigating the matter. Preliminary examination of the hospital services division budget by the Treasury review team does not support the recently publicised figures suggesting a $10m blow-out in the hospital budget for the 1989-90 financial year. The $10m figure was derived from a supposed overrun of $2.5m to the end of September. It is based on a number of false assumptions and does not represent a true picture of the budget outlook.
Analysis of the position is still under way, but at this stage Treasury has highlighted a number of factors which must be taken into account in providing a more accurate picture of the potential budget outcome for the year.
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