Page 3637 - Week 12 - Thursday, 13 October 1994
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Mr Berry took on the very difficult job of getting a better feel on the finances and getting to the point where we could publish monthly reports. Of course, every time the monthly report comes out Mrs Carnell has a field day and puts out the "shock, horror" press release. I recall your "shock, horror" press release on the six-month report of health last year. You were saying, "It is going to be a $10m blow-out". In fact, we came in at about half of that - one of the best results since self-government. It was still not good enough, but it was a lot better than the woeful performance when you were in office.
Madam Speaker, no, I do not think that we are going to be over budget by $4.5m. We are going to continue to work for maximum efficiency in the hospital; continue to work constructively; avoid trying to con the public by saying that there is some simple answer for health; accept the reality that around Australia public health funding is a very difficult issue which governments of all persuasions are grappling with; commit to the public that we will continue to resource the ACT public health system, not say that we are going to rip $30m out of the health system, which is Mrs Carnell's prescription - smile at the hospital and rip $30m out of the system. Madam Speaker, if we are stressed at the moment, which is Mrs Carnell's constant refrain, if we cannot cope at the moment - we can, but Mrs Carnell says that we cannot cope at the moment; there are not enough beds, not enough nurses, not enough doctors - how are you going to have more beds, more nurses, more doctors, more treatments and more admissions by ripping $30m out of the system?
Kangaroos
MR MOORE: My question is directed to Mr Wood as Minister for the Environment, Land and Planning. I draw attention, Madam Speaker, to his description in the Canberra Times this morning. There was clearly a mistake in a headline over an article by Ian Warden that described him as "Blinky Bill". It really ought to have been "Blinkered Bill". I refer him to a response yesterday to a question I asked about finding a short-term and long-term solution to the population explosion of the eastern grey kangaroos. At that time he replied that he had advice, including, of course, the unanimous report of the Conservation, Heritage and Environment Committee of the Assembly, and that he was considering options. Minister, on 11 April 1993, about 18 months ago, in an article by Bill Norman in the Canberra Times which had an inset stating "Humane shooting 'is the only sensible solution'", you were referred to in the following way:
After years of government inaction, the ACT Minister for the Environment, Bill Wood, has now recognised that there may indeed be a problem ...
At that point you appointed Dr Keith Williams to report on the impact. In the same article 18 months ago, Dr Williams set out three options - do nothing, increase rental rebates to leaseholders, or permit culling in line with the RSPCA approved code of practice which was adopted by nature conservation Ministers in 1985. For 18 months, Minister, you have chosen the first option, the do nothing option. Will you make a decision or start paying realistic compensation to drought affected rural lessees?
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .