Page 4574 - Week 16 - Tuesday, 27 November 1990
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MR KAINE: That is fine. I do not mind, we will debate that if you like; but the point was that it should and will continue to be used as a health related facility. If you want to have a little smirk and a snigger about that, then you go and tell the convalescent patients that you do not want us to do that. Get up on your feet now and say that you do not think we should provide convalescent care. Get up on your feet and tell us that you do not think that we should use the Royal Canberra Hospital facilities for health related functions. If that is what you really think, get up and say it. I put the challenge on the table.
Visiting Medical Officers
MS MAHER: My question is directed to the Minister for Health. Can the Minister inform the Assembly as to what progress the Government has made to finalise new contracts for visiting medical officers in the ACT public health system?
MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, I thank Ms Maher for her question and I am pleased to say that negotiations with the Capital Territory branch of the Australian Medical Association on the terms and conditions of new contracts for visiting medical officers working in our public hospital system have recently been successfully completed. These negotiations have proceeded over recent months in a climate of cooperation, and agreement at this stage means that there will be no disturbance to the provision of normal services in our public hospitals.
I have to say, Mr Speaker, that this achievement stands in stark contrast to the protracted disputation which characterised the last round of negotiations in 1987 and which was managed by a Commonwealth Labor Government. It stands as a tribute to the commitment of all the parties, doctors most particularly, to find a solution which satisfied the requirements of the system in particular and patients in general. The new contracts will result in only a small increase of around $55,000 in the budget for our public hospitals. This reflects an increase in the number of non-private Medicare patients treated over recent years. I am very pleased that the negotiations have been successfully concluded on such amicable terms.
Grass Mowing
MR MOORE: Mr Speaker, my question is directed to Mr Duby as Minister for Urban Services. Minister, I refer firstly to your interjection in the house last week when you said "Shut up, fungus face" in reference to me, and further this morning when you commented that I had had a considerable amount of that growth cut away. I know that you can
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