Page 4484 - Week 15 - Thursday, 22 November 1990
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QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Chief Minister
MS FOLLETT: Mr Speaker, my question is to Mr Kaine, the Chief Minister. I would like to ask whether the reports that I have seen that he is going overseas for some time during the summer recess are true. I would like to ask Mr Kaine to inform the Assembly whether this is a private trip or whether it is of such a nature that he will remain on duty, when he will be absent, whether Mr Collaery will be acting as Chief Minister and, if so, whether Mr Collaery will be exercising the full range of powers and functions of the Chief Minister in his absence.
MR KAINE: Mr Speaker, I am going overseas. It is private business. As for the rest, it is a matter for me to determine before I leave.
MS FOLLETT: I have a supplementary question. Will Mr Kaine inform the Assembly what instructions he will be giving Mr Collaery about the exercise of the Chief Minister's powers during his absence?
MR KAINE: No, I will not, Mr Speaker. I will simply, as is normally the case, pass the responsibility to another Minister while I am away. The details of that will be that he will perform the normal duties of a Minister during my absence.
Melba Health Centre
MR BERRY: My question is to the Minister for Health, Education and the Arts. Mr Humphries, I refer to a statement made at a public meeting on Wednesday, 7 November, by Mr Duby in which Mr Duby said that the Melba Health Centre would not close. Is this the Government's position and does the Minister stand by Mr Duby's commitment?
MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, I have indicated before in this place - and I think Mr Berry will tire of repetition if I repeat it once more - that the Government has commissioned a paper which it is expecting to see in the next few weeks. That paper will form the basis of a period of public consultation with the Canberra community, particularly the community that uses and is affected by or works in health centres, and that consultation ultimately will lead to the Government's consideration of what decisions it will make in this area.
I am well aware of the debate which Mr Berry has generated on this question, attempting to pretend that there is a problem with the future of health centres. I am particularly aware of the fact that Mr Berry has made claims, positive claims, to people in health centres across
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