Page 4410 - Week 12 - Thursday, 26 October 2017
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growing city in the country and our growing population needs these services now, not sometime in the future.
The minister should be apologising to the people of Canberra because her government abandoned planning for new health facilities to put the money into a tram. This minister should be apologising to Canberra’s Indigenous people for its abject bungling of the Ngunnawal Bush Healing Farm, a residential rehabilitation centre that is beautiful but is like the hospital that has no patients of Yes, Minister fame.
She says the Ngunnawal Bush Healing Farm is “a place of healing and spiritual growth to help our First Peoples recover, reset their lives and return to their families and the community stronger and better equipped to face life’s challenges”. It is going to be a struggle to achieve these ideals when the clients will only have 20 hours of contact per week. And that is on the days that they can get there. On the days of extreme fire danger when they will not be able to use the farm, on the days when the temperature is up, when they will not be able to use the farm, and for the remaining 148 hours each week, what are these clients going to do?
The people in the front line of our health system here in Canberra are amazing. They do their very best to provide the care and understanding the people of Canberra need when they engage with the health system, but they must do that work in the face of a government which keeps saying that the health and wellbeing of all people of Canberra is its top priority, but it has its eyes on other things.
If this government had foresight and if this minister had ability we would not have hospital fires and patient evacuations. We would not have building materials that are not fit for purpose. We would not have facilities that do not meet demand and do not fulfil their intended purposes. We should not have patients on trolleys in corridors. We should not have expectant mums in labour in waiting rooms. We should not have the most vulnerable in our Indigenous community on the receiving end of little more than lip-service. I think it is time for the Minister for Health and Wellbeing to stop boasting and start apologising.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Achievements over the past year
Ministerial statement
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Minister for Planning and Land Management and Minister for Urban Renewal) (10.25): I appreciate the opportunity to talk about the achievements in my ministerial portfolios over the last year. The first year of government has seen a vast number of achievements within my portfolios of planning and land management; the environment and heritage; urban renewal; and police and emergency services.
First, I would like to acknowledge the excellent work the ACT police and emergency services do on a daily basis and the commitment of officers to keeping the Canberra community safe. As minister responsible for these services, I am fortunate enough to
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