Page 3145 - Week 10 - Thursday, 18 October 2007

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


That was the sentence Mr Stefaniak picked out. Mr Reid went on immediately afterwards to say:

The linkages between such surgery and plastic surgery, which also has difficulties, is particularly important for registrar training.

Mr Speaker, it should be noted that Mr Reid did not make any recommendations in relation to oral maxillofacial surgery in his report. He made those two passing references to it. Quite frankly, in 2002 we were dealing with an absolute dog’s breakfast with regard to the government’s system for health. We focused our initial energy on fixing up the immediate system problems that we were left by those opposite. At the appropriate time, having overhauled the governance mess that the Liberals left us, we have dealt with a range of other matters.

The reform of the ACT health system since the Reid review has been a great success, to the extent that the Acting Minister for Health was able to announce that this year there is a 93 per cent satisfaction rating by the people of Canberra with the Canberra Hospital—93 per cent of the people of Canberra disagree with the Liberal Party’s continual and constant bagging and bringing down of our health professionals in our public hospitals. The reform of the ACT health system has been successful.

There has been a range of improvements since the Reid review. There have been territory-wide medical appointments, credentialing and clinical privileging—something unheard of in the Liberals’ time in government; there is the surgical services task force; there is the ICU role delineation review; there is the critical care task force; there are clinical streams for mental health and clinical streams for cancer and aged care and rehabilitation; there is the portfolio executive; and so it goes on. Since coming to office, Mr Speaker, this government has expended in excess of an additional $300 million on public health for the people of the ACT.

We have a system of which all Canberrans can be proud. We have a system which, in the last week, 93 per cent of the people of Canberra indicated their support of, satisfaction with and confidence in. It really is to the discredit of the Liberal Party that they continue to defame the hardworking medical professionals in the way in which Mrs Burke has done in the last two days under privilege in this place, I think, bringing this place and the Liberal Party to a new low. She has come in here during the adjournment debate, two days in a row, to name and to defame, without justification, without an opportunity to respond, the reputations of hardworking health professionals at the Canberra Hospital. I wonder whether Mrs Burke will do it again. Two days in a row she has scurried in—yesterday she scuttled in the minute that her suspension from the Assembly had terminated. She was here at one minute past six, exactly three hours after she had been suspended from the services of the Assembly, to again defame, to again bring down, to again cast aspersions on hardworking professionals at the Canberra Hospital. It is a low point and an abuse of the privileges of this place.

Review of the application to territory investment practices

Paper and statement by minister

MR STANHOPE (Ginninderra—Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Business and Economic Development, Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Minister for the


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