Page 3709 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 9 December 1992
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MR LAMONT: And it is done responsibly. The simple fact is that the construction of our standing order is not dissimilar to that which exists in Federal Parliament. The simple fact is that any member of the House of Representatives, being a non-executive member, has an inalienable right to put in an MPI. That is something Mr Humphries has acknowledged - true civil libertarian that he purports to be.
Mr Berry: No, he doesn't.
MR LAMONT: Does he not even purport to be one?
Mr Moore: We just saw his vote a minute ago.
MR LAMONT: I am sorry; we did see his vote a minute ago. I will withdraw that imputation, Madam Speaker. I did suggest that he was a civil libertarian. I withdraw that imputation.
MADAM SPEAKER: Order! The debate is interrupted in accordance with temporary order 77.
Sitting suspended from 12.30 to 2.30 pm
QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Health Budget
MR KAINE: I address a question to the Treasurer and I preface it with a brief resume. Virtually since the beginning of this fiscal year there have been rumours, suggestions, even fears that the health budget is going to blow out. That has culminated in the last 24 hours in the chairman of the Board of Health and the chief executive officer both asserting that the health budget is indeed going to blow out to the tune of some millions of dollars - unspecified. Since the Minister for Health will not tell us, will the Treasurer come clean and tell the house that appropriates these budgetary funds by how much she expects the health budget to blow out before this fiscal year is over?
MS FOLLETT: I thank Mr Kaine for the question. Can I say right at the start that, as with all of the agencies, I do expect Health to live within their budget. I am quite adamant upon that point; there are no exceptions. Once the budget is appropriated, that is what managers are expected to manage within. As I have reiterated many times in this Assembly, in the case of Health, and indeed in the case of some other programs as well, there is provision for supplementation of the budget in particular circumstances. Circumstances which are beyond management's control must be picked up in the course of the year, and that is the case with Health.
I do not think it is a secret - indeed, Mr Kaine has said that there have been other public statements, and I echo what I understand are those public statements when I say this - that the health budget is under stress; there is no doubt about that. They are experiencing difficulties in meeting their budget. In setting the budget for Health, I was conscious of the need to continue to bear down on the
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