Page 3378 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
MS GALLAGHER: you say that serious harm or death may have even occurred. I think that is the role that you played—scaremongering, as usual.
What we find in this report—and I must say I have met with the unit recently, and one of their responses to this report is that they feel that TCH has not been given the credit it deserves as a unit that performs overwhelmingly superior to other benchmarked hospitals. That is something that members of the unit expressed to me and said, “If there is anything you can do, Katy, when you go back to that place you work in, can you please let them know that we do a damn good job here, we’re very proud of it and we’re very proud of the clinical outcomes that we deliver to the women of the ACT.” Indeed, they are quite protective of some of the recommendations in this review which encourage changing some of the staffing arrangements at the hospital, because they believe that some of the good outcomes are because of the way they run the service. Again, this is just trying to explain to you that you can’t always accept one version of events; that there are shades of grey all the time. And that is why we will consult over some of these recommendations before proceeding any further.
Economy—federal public service
MR HARGREAVES: My question is to the Chief Minister. Can you please detail to the Assembly what exactly is the importance of a strong commonwealth public sector to the ACT economy?
MR STANHOPE: I am more than happy to do that, and I do it in the hope, perhaps the forlorn hope, that members of the Liberal Party will—
Ms Gallagher: Stand up for Canberra.
MR STANHOPE: stand up for Canberra—that they will actually take the message to their federal leader, their federal shadow Treasurer, and seek to get some level of understanding about the importance of the commonwealth public service as an employer in the ACT.
It is a forlorn hope, isn’t it? We see the banging of the drum constantly and regularly by most particularly the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Seselja, and the deputy leader, Mr Smyth, in relation to the need to stick up for the city, the need to stick up for the community. Where have Mr Seselja, Mr Smyth and, more importantly, Senator Humphries been over this last month as Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey have gone around the nation bashing Canberra, seeking to score political points and seeking desperately to gain votes in the marginals in Sydney and Queensland by promising to do what any desperate politician does—that is, belt Canberra to death? What about the $24 billion cut to public service outcomes in the ACT that Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey promised?
Mr Hanson interjecting—
MR STANHOPE: What representations have you made? What has Senator Humphries done? Has he actually suggested at any stage that he might cross
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video