Page 314 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 20 February 1990
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he tabled in the house. If he refers to the top of it, under "Telephone", he will notice that there has been a change to the telephone number; he will also note that the fax information has been deleted. That is not a copy of the document that was handed out last night because it deviates in that small matter. Clearly Mr Whalan is very sensitive to this issue. I was just making this comment in passing, without any imputation at all.
SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES
Discussion of Matter of Public Importance
MR SPEAKER: I have received a letter from Mr Berry proposing that a matter of public importance be submitted to the Assembly for discussion, namely:
The urgent need to develop a coordinated strategy to address the problems associated with social justice issues which have been identified in the community.
MR BERRY (4.01): This matter of public importance relates to the urgent need to develop a coordinated strategy to address the problems associated with social justice issues which have been identified in the community. The issue that I wish to confine my remarks to is access to essential services, which, of course, is one of the fundamentals of the delivery of socially just policies to the community. The first service that I would like to talk about is a birthing centre. A birthing centre can be described as a public facility which is separate from the mainstream of obstetrics wards in hospitals. There has been a strong need expressed by the community and I think that was evidenced by a large throng of mothers in the - - -
Mr Humphries: The pram parade it is called.
MR BERRY: The pram parade, as Mr Humphries has quite correctly described it. I think that there was a strong showing from that group, and in my view it needs to be supported by everyone. A petition was put before the Assembly earlier on, and that in itself indicates the level of support for a birthing centre.
There is a high rate of intervention in births in ACT hospitals - over 60 per cent of births are intervened in. In my view, that is unacceptable and it is this problem which has led women to exclude the medical profession from participation in the delivery of their children. That has created some tensions and it is important that those tensions are addressed, because it is the mothers and children in our community with which this Assembly ought to be concerned when developing socially just strategies.
I call on the Government to institute an independent public inquiry into the high rate of obstetric intervention in
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