Page 1675 - Week 06 - Thursday, 20 May 1993
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quarterly licence fees by reference to purchases in the quarter commencing 15 months earlier, whereas licensees who were approved on or after that date calculated their quarterly fee by reference to purchases in the quarter commencing six months earlier. As a result of the passage of this Act, all licensees pay their quarterly fees in advance, calculated by reference to purchases in the quarter commencing six months earlier. Revenue from liquor fees for the current year has not been adversely affected by this change in the reference period for calculating the quarterly fees. The result of that legislative change is that the Territory's liquor revenue has been secured from possible challenge following that High Court decision.
Ambulance Service - Overtime and Redundancy Payments
MR WESTENDE: My question is directed to the Minister for Health, Mr Wayne Berry. The Minister talked a lot about management in his answer to Mr De Domenico. I ask the Minister: Why were the positions of those ambulance officers under investigation by the Health Department advertised in last week's Gazette? Why have those positions been advertised when they are still occupied by officers who have not been notified about the outcome of the investigation and their own future, and a redundancy package payment that may or may not be due to them?
MR BERRY: I am not aware, Madam Speaker, whether the positions which were referred to were permanently appointed positions or whether people were acting in them. If they were acting in them it is possible that positions were advertised in accordance with normal practice. Knowing as much as I do about the levels in the Ambulance Service, if you are talking about senior positions they are not positions that have been occupied by anybody for 15 years, acting or otherwise. We are talking about positions which, one assumes, from the information that has been put forward by the Liberals, are positions that are ready to be filled and would have been advertised within the normal process.
Mrs Carnell: They are occupied by these people.
MR BERRY: People occupy positions in an acting capacity sometimes, as you would well appreciate.
Ms Follett: They do not understand.
MR BERRY: If you have some difficulty understanding, and if that was the case, it would be quite normal for them to be advertised. I do not keep tabs on every position throughout the health portfolio, nor should I be expected to. I will have somebody have a look at the Gazette and I will inquire into the background of those advertisements. When I have that information I will make sure that the Assembly is made aware of it.
MR WESTENDE: I ask a supplementary question, Madam Speaker. If the positions are not acting, will the Minister then undertake to cancel the notice in the Gazette?
MR BERRY: I am not going to speculate about what might happen. I have told you that I will investigate the matter and report back to you.
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