Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 8 Hansard (27 June) . . Page.. 2361 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

This amendment sets out to broaden the expertise of the board. It is a board in a system designed along the lines of a purchaser-provider model. It has all of the signs that go with a hard-hitting economic rationalist outfit and it needs to have its area of expertise broadened. Mrs Carnell said we have to make sure that this is a tight board, and all they are interested in is hard-hitting management, or words to that effect. Mr Speaker, I disagree with that.

This amendment seeks to have a person from the community or a community health organisation appointed, after consultation by the Minister with the community or with community health organisations. I would expect, when those appointments find their way into the committee process, they would have to be shown to be genuine appointments after genuine consultation with those organisations with a view to having somebody appointed to the board with a community health interest. So far as the other appointment is concerned, I would expect that the Minister, after taking into account consultation with the Trades and Labour Council of the ACT, would appoint not just somebody who is merely a union member that they like but somebody who has the confidence of the trade union movement in the ACT to look after the interests of workers not only in the health system but also workers who might be using the health system. Mr Speaker, these two amendments seek to improve the social justice outlook which, so far, is non-existent in the appointment processes which are found in the Bill. Mrs Carnell will say, immediately I sit down, that the board will now be too big. I say to Mrs Carnell that if it needs to be a bit bigger to improve its social justice impact on management decisions in this unnecessary organisation, then so be it. It has to be a little bit bigger. If I have my way this Assembly will carry this amendment. It will better the Health and Community Care Service which this legislation sets up.

MRS CARNELL (Chief Minister and Minister for Health and Community Care (6.34): Mr Speaker, as I said earlier, it is absolutely essential for this board that the people on it have the appropriate qualifications to run what is a very complex health system costing $300m of the taxpayers' money. It will not be quite that much because, I suppose, it will involve just the service end of it, but it is still a large amount of money. The appointments to this board will be disallowable. The Assembly committee can look at the appointments and determine whether they are appropriate. The positions on the board will be put out for expressions of interest from the community. People will be able to put their names forward for membership of the board. I am interested in the amendment that Mr Berry has put forward. I do not know that it enlarges the board.

Mr Berry: If it does not I will fix it then.

MRS CARNELL: Well, paragraph (c) says "not more than four other members", and paragraph (d) goes on to say "a member appointed - - -

Mr Berry: Okay, I will fix that.

MRS CARNELL: Well, that is fine. I think the way it is drafted at the moment probably does not do what Mr Berry wants it to do anyway, but there are people here who are wiser than I in this sort of thing. I think the same arguments hold here as held yesterday when we were talking about the Gungahlin board. If you are going to have a representative of the trade union movement and a representative of the community,

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .