Page 3612 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 21 November 2007
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coming in seeking treatment. Our outcomes are the best in the country, Mrs Burke. The delivery of services at the Canberra Hospital rivals every hospital in the country—and you hate it. You hate that they deliver that level of service. You are an outrage. You are a disgrace to your party and you are a disgrace to the community.
Mr Mulcahy: On a point of order, Mr Speaker: the minister should be directing her comments at the chair, not at—
MR SPEAKER: Direct your comments through the chair. And discontinue the interjections, Mrs Burke.
MS GALLAGHER: As I said, Mr Speaker, I should probably wind up now. I have made my point. The government will not be supporting this bill. Mrs Burke has failed terribly in any way to argue her case. The bill purports to fix a system that those opposite would like us to believe is in chaos. Mrs Burke does not even argue how it is going to do that. The system we have in place now is excellent. The management at the hospital is excellent. They have my full support. The chief executive at the hospital, the chief executive of ACT Health, the chief nurse, every nurse unit manager, every doctor who directs a unit—they all have my full support, because I know they go in there every day and they do their best for our community. Every single day those staff go in there and do their best for our community, and they respond to the challenges that the community present in terms of every single day coming with different issues. Every day they do it—and Mrs Burke’s attack on them today is outrageous.
Mr Stefaniak interjecting—
MS GALLAGHER: And, Bill, if you ever do get government here, the last person you will be able to appoint is Mrs Burke because you will not have any staff left at the hospital to work there.
MR MULCAHY (Molonglo) (12.10): Well, I am a bit at a loss for words after that melodramatic performance by the health minister. The minister’s incapacity to take any criticism about the administration of the health system is quite extraordinary. Her comments seemed to descend to a level of personal abuse directed at my colleague. I think that is because we have raised, through this bill, a sensible measure that is supported by the Australian government that will go substantially towards improving the management of public health in the ACT and decentralise power over the public hospitals in Canberra.
Ms Gallagher: How? Are you going to tell us, Richard?
MR MULCAHY: Well, we will come to that. I commend the Australian government and my colleague Mrs Burke for taking the initiative on this issue of management within public hospitals. It is an area where we have seen state Labor governments from coast to coast continually struggle. Their track record of the management of public health has been nothing short of a disaster. Sadly, the ACT government has been the worst offender in this regard with a record on public hospitals that has been the worst in the country. It has completely failed to address this issue.
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