Page 1939 - Week 07 - Thursday, 31 May 1990
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
MR BERRY: If Mr Duby is a responsible representative at ministerial councils, as you have said, why was it necessary for Mr Jensen to accompany him to Perth in a clear breach of the Government's own guidelines on attendance by Executive Deputies, or could he not be trusted out by himself?
MR KAINE: The question as usual from this gentleman is predicated on an incorrect basis. Mr Jensen's attendance was not in breach of our instructions on Executive Deputies. Executive Deputies may attend with their Minister in lieu of a departmental adviser where they have special qualifications to do so, and he attended in that capacity strictly in accordance with the arrangements for Executive Deputies.
Royal Canberra Hospital
MR STEVENSON: My question is to the Chief Minister. It concerns his statement on radio yesterday that it does not matter how many signatures are received against the closure of Royal Canberra Hospital - indeed, over 41,000 have been presented to this house - because the hospital will be closed anyway. In Switzerland, when the Government wanted to build autobahns, the people said they wanted hospitals, and indeed hospitals were built. Notwithstanding the multimillion dollar shortfall of funds - - -
MR KAINE: I am quite happy to answer the question, Mr Speaker, but I do not think I have to put up with a statement as well.
MR SPEAKER: Have you posed your question, Mr Stevenson?
MR STEVENSON: Yes. Notwithstanding the multimillion dollar shortfall in funds and the fact that the Federal Government allowed the hospital to be run down, will the Chief Minister indicate that the people quite reasonably should have a right to say where their funds will be spent?
MR KAINE: Mr Speaker, what I said was that the signatures on petitions do not translate into dollars, that to keep the Royal Canberra Hospital open requires tens of millions of dollars, that we do not have that money, and that I do not know where it can come from. It cannot come from my present revenue base; therefore, the hospital must close. I think, if you check what I said, you will find that is almost an exact restatement. I think that is a very logical statement that simply follows from the facts of life. People can sign petitions, they can express their wish. I can understand their motives in doing so, but it does not produce the tens of millions of dollars that are required to keep the Royal Canberra Hospital open.
I also said that, if the person who made the call and the people who supported that view were prepared to go to the
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .