Page 3225 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 22 August 2012
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blame. She has received all of the blame. She has been the only one who has paid a price when it comes to this data-altering scandal, and I think that that justifies an apology from the Chief Minister. So the Canberra Liberals would wholeheartedly endorse that recommendation that there be an apology; that we do not make one individual—as much as she did the wrong thing—the scapegoat for something that is the responsibility of more than just one individual; that is clear from the Auditor-General’s report.
This process in relation to the review of the Auditor-General’s report has been a sad reflection on this government. We had a motion today that went down, but this reflects on this government in its entirety. It reflects on the culture of this government; a culture that led to the fabrication of data, to the systematic altering of data. It is not isolated; it has happened before in health. We have seen it with other Auditor-General’s reports in relation to elective surgery. We have seen it in elective surgery. We have seen it in emergency surgery. We have seen the reports of bullying and the 10-year war. There is something amiss in our health system. We need to get to the bottom of it. We cannot keep pretending that the minister is doing the right thing and that things are heading in the right direction. Clearly they are not. The hardworking staff deserve better than what they are getting. They deserve better than a minister who pretends that there are not serious problems, who refuses to take responsibility for those.
So in conclusion I will simply say that we should not have just one person made a scapegoat for what are much broader failings. Only one person has paid the price and we think that that person deserves an apology for the way she has been treated.
But there are much bigger problems in this health system. They are systemic and we need to get to the bottom of them. If this minister is not going to do it and this government is not going to do it, it may be left to an incoming government to fix what is a massive mess in our health system that has been left to us by 11 years of ACT Labor.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Financial Management (Investment) Legislation Amendment Bill 2012
Debate resumed from 9 May 2012, on motion by Ms Hunter:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
MR BARR (Molonglo—Deputy Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development and Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation) (5.08): The government will not be supporting this bill today. We understand that some might be disappointed with this outcome, but we remain firm in the view that legislation is not the best way forward.
The government’s position is that legislation in this area is not required, because matters of responsible investment are more appropriately addressed by way of
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