Page 3201 - Week 10 - Thursday, 16 September 1993
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It is a matter of some real frustration to the ACT Government that we are put in this position. We would like to make more money available to HACC. We would like to make more money available to lots of things, Mrs Carnell. Unfortunately, the brilliant insight had not occurred to us that it only takes money, as it appears to have occurred to the Liberals. You just spend it. It is simple. What we have done across the range of the community services program, including HACC, is that, while we have imposed 2 per cent savings cuts on ourselves, on our administration, which means that those very hard-worked people that we employ in the community services sector are working even harder, we have not imposed savings on these grants programs.
So the home and community care grants that we fund have not been reduced at all. In a climate of massive reductions to the ACT budget, that is a pretty good outcome. I think the community services sector, while they obviously would like more, and I have seen the press release Mrs Doobov has put out, does accept that, in a time of massive restraint and massive cutback for the ACT, any program that is able to hold its own and not be reduced is doing pretty well. It is a matter of frustration that we cannot match those Commonwealth grants because we simply do not have additional 6 per cents to make available in this area. It is a two-card trick when the Commonwealth takes money out of one pocket and then waves dollars in front of us saying, "You can have this if you match it". It is very frustrating for us that we are unable to do that.
Health Services
MR LAMONT: My question is directed to the Minister for Health. The Canberra Times today proposed various budget savings for ACT Health. Are these proposals realistic and accurate? How would they impact upon the delivery of service?
MR BERRY: I thank the member for the question. One of the first misconceptions is that there is going to be a whole heap of spare space in Calvary Hospital. By the time the redevelopment is completed, that will be extremely limited.
Mrs Carnell: That is just not true.
MR BERRY: Did you ask the question? It will be extremely limited by the end of the redevelopment. Secondly, there has been an acknowledgment by everybody who knows anything about hospices, Mrs Carnell, that they ought to be freestanding. There is a very strong school of thought, Mrs Carnell, that says that they ought to be nowhere near a hospital. If you have a look at the Canberra Times article this morning, they said that there would be a saving of $3m.
Ms Follett: It would be free, of course. It would not cost anything.
MR BERRY: We would have a free hospice! We would get it for nothing. How can you give any credibility to that sort of article which says that the hospice will cost nothing? This bloke's builder is better than your million dollar one yesterday. I will have his builder, not yours. It is outrageous to say that $3m would be saved. That is the actual cost of it. It is a lot of nonsense. We have never yet seen a proposal for a hospice that would cost nothing. If there is one around that will cost absolutely nothing, I would be very interested in seeing it.
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