Page 299 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 20 February 1990
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Mr Jensen: He certainly was.
MR BERRY: I will get the opportunity to finish off the issue, Mr Speaker, then everybody will understand where I am coming from.
Mr Duby: We know where you have been, though.
MR BERRY: Well, it would not be anywhere that you have been, Mr Duby.
Mrs Grassby: They would never take you, Mr Duby.
MR SPEAKER: Order!
MR BERRY: There was, of course, extensive consultation and I mentioned earlier that Mr Kaine had some sort of selective amnesia on the issue because he himself was consulted on the issue of the hospital redevelopment plan. He was, therefore, involved in the process, as was the broader community, as well as, of course, all of the members of this Assembly. That resulted in a plan which was to span five to seven years and, without going into the detail of it, was going to cost about $210m.
We knew exactly where we were going, Mr Kaine knew exactly where we were going and it is extremely negligent of him to say that just because they have grabbed government, nothing has happened in the past. What has happened is that they have grabbed government and done nothing with it on the hospital issue. There is a vacuum on the issue of hospital policy. To say that I shirked my duties in doing something about the issue of public hospitals is completely untrue. I have been misrepresented and I think the record will now show that.
ASBESTOS REMOVAL PROGRAM
Ministerial Statement
MR DUBY (Minister for Finance and Urban Services), by leave: Mr Speaker, the existence of asbestos insulation in 1,060 Canberra homes represents a major public health problem and while it is not a problem of our making, it is nevertheless one that we must address and address urgently as a large number of Canberrans are affected. This problem shows every sign of getting more expensive the longer we take to remedy it. Since coming into government we have been carefully considering how best to tackle this public health problem. Soon after coming into office I met with the asbestos support group and discussed a wide range of concerns with them. In mid-December I announced that the Alliance Government was committed to removing asbestos from all Canberra homes within four years. I also said that any funding negotiations with the Commonwealth would not delay the program.
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