❓ Mr Board questions the Minister for Health about the abandonment of the Moora hospital project despite recommendations from health reviews. The Minister defends the decision by citing budget constraints and prioritising cancer care.
AnsweredQoN 1279Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I refer the minister to the Department of Health’s “Country Health Services Review” released in January 2003 and the Reid review’s discussion paper titled “Country Health Services” released in October 2003. (1) Is the minister aware that both reports recommend that Moora become a regional resource centre, which would take on an enhanced role in the provision of primary and secondary care for its populations in surrounding towns and communities? (2) How does the minister reconcile the findings of both reports with his decision to totally abandon the new Moora hospital project? (3) Why did the minister spend more than $1 million on the Reid review if he is simply going to ignore its recommendations? Mr J.A. McGINTY
AnswerView source ↗
(1)-(3) At this stage there are no recommendations from the Reid review. A series of discussion papers has been released dealing with, as I recollect, 12 discrete areas of health care delivery in Western Australia. It is intended that as a result of the feedback that comes from those discussion papers, we will receive a comprehensive report in approximately March next year with a series of recommendations, which will then be important - Mr M.F. Board: The Country Health Services Review recommended Moora as a district centre. Mr J.A. McGINTY: But Reid did not. Discussion papers are with us now and we will be debating this matter in some considerable detail. However, I make the general observation that for many - I include the Opposition in this - there is a cargo cult mentality that if people look skyward, everything they want will be delivered. We as a community need to face up to the reality - Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. Mr M.J. Birney interjected The SPEAKER: The member for Merredin and the member for Kalgoorlie! Mr J.A. McGINTY: We as a community must recognise that the amount of money that is available to be spent on health is not an unending supply of money; it does not grow on trees. We must look at the priority areas of health expenditure, and that is where we must spend the money. Anyone who pretends that every want in the community can be met is absolutely misleading the public. I want to have a rational debate about what we can and should be spending money on. I gave a clear example recently of cancer care in Western Australia. Most members would know from their own electorate officers that someone in Western Australia who has been diagnosed with a non-urgent case of cancer must wait up to six months before receiving radiation treatment. I do not find that acceptable. To me it is a number one priority to fix that problem. Two weeks ago the Premier announced the first very important step towards fixing the problem of acute need. It is unacceptable that at the most worrying time in their lives people who have been diagnosed with and perhaps operated on for cancer and need radiation therapy cannot access that care unless their case is of life-threatening urgency. Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
(1) Is the minister aware that both reports recommend that Moora become a regional resource centre, which would take on an enhanced role in the provision of primary and secondary care for its populations in surrounding towns and communities? (2) How does the minister reconcile the findings of both reports with his decision to totally abandon the new Moora hospital project? (3) Why did the minister spend more than $1 million on the Reid review if he is simply going to ignore its recommendations? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(3) At this stage there are no recommendations from the Reid review. A series of discussion papers has been released dealing with, as I recollect, 12 discrete areas of health care delivery in Western Australia. It is intended that as a result of the feedback that comes from those discussion papers, we will receive a comprehensive report in approximately March next year with a series of recommendations, which will then be important - Mr M.F. Board: The Country Health Services Review recommended Moora as a district centre. Mr J.A. McGINTY: But Reid did not. Discussion papers are with us now and we will be debating this matter in some considerable detail. However, I make the general observation that for many - I include the Opposition in this - there is a cargo cult mentality that if people look skyward, everything they want will be delivered. We as a community need to face up to the reality - Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. Mr M.J. Birney interjected The SPEAKER: The member for Merredin and the member for Kalgoorlie! Mr J.A. McGINTY: We as a community must recognise that the amount of money that is available to be spent on health is not an unending supply of money; it does not grow on trees. We must look at the priority areas of health expenditure, and that is where we must spend the money. Anyone who pretends that every want in the community can be met is absolutely misleading the public. I want to have a rational debate about what we can and should be spending money on. I gave a clear example recently of cancer care in Western Australia. Most members would know from their own electorate officers that someone in Western Australia who has been diagnosed with a non-urgent case of cancer must wait up to six months before receiving radiation treatment. I do not find that acceptable. To me it is a number one priority to fix that problem. Two weeks ago the Premier announced the first very important step towards fixing the problem of acute need. It is unacceptable that at the most worrying time in their lives people who have been diagnosed with and perhaps operated on for cancer and need radiation therapy cannot access that care unless their case is of life-threatening urgency. Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
(2) How does the minister reconcile the findings of both reports with his decision to totally abandon the new Moora hospital project? (3) Why did the minister spend more than $1 million on the Reid review if he is simply going to ignore its recommendations? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(3) At this stage there are no recommendations from the Reid review. A series of discussion papers has been released dealing with, as I recollect, 12 discrete areas of health care delivery in Western Australia. It is intended that as a result of the feedback that comes from those discussion papers, we will receive a comprehensive report in approximately March next year with a series of recommendations, which will then be important - Mr M.F. Board: The Country Health Services Review recommended Moora as a district centre. Mr J.A. McGINTY: But Reid did not. Discussion papers are with us now and we will be debating this matter in some considerable detail. However, I make the general observation that for many - I include the Opposition in this - there is a cargo cult mentality that if people look skyward, everything they want will be delivered. We as a community need to face up to the reality - Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. Mr M.J. Birney interjected The SPEAKER: The member for Merredin and the member for Kalgoorlie! Mr J.A. McGINTY: We as a community must recognise that the amount of money that is available to be spent on health is not an unending supply of money; it does not grow on trees. We must look at the priority areas of health expenditure, and that is where we must spend the money. Anyone who pretends that every want in the community can be met is absolutely misleading the public. I want to have a rational debate about what we can and should be spending money on. I gave a clear example recently of cancer care in Western Australia. Most members would know from their own electorate officers that someone in Western Australia who has been diagnosed with a non-urgent case of cancer must wait up to six months before receiving radiation treatment. I do not find that acceptable. To me it is a number one priority to fix that problem. Two weeks ago the Premier announced the first very important step towards fixing the problem of acute need. It is unacceptable that at the most worrying time in their lives people who have been diagnosed with and perhaps operated on for cancer and need radiation therapy cannot access that care unless their case is of life-threatening urgency. Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
(3) Why did the minister spend more than $1 million on the Reid review if he is simply going to ignore its recommendations? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(3) At this stage there are no recommendations from the Reid review. A series of discussion papers has been released dealing with, as I recollect, 12 discrete areas of health care delivery in Western Australia. It is intended that as a result of the feedback that comes from those discussion papers, we will receive a comprehensive report in approximately March next year with a series of recommendations, which will then be important - Mr M.F. Board: The Country Health Services Review recommended Moora as a district centre. Mr J.A. McGINTY: But Reid did not. Discussion papers are with us now and we will be debating this matter in some considerable detail. However, I make the general observation that for many - I include the Opposition in this - there is a cargo cult mentality that if people look skyward, everything they want will be delivered. We as a community need to face up to the reality - Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. Mr M.J. Birney interjected The SPEAKER: The member for Merredin and the member for Kalgoorlie! Mr J.A. McGINTY: We as a community must recognise that the amount of money that is available to be spent on health is not an unending supply of money; it does not grow on trees. We must look at the priority areas of health expenditure, and that is where we must spend the money. Anyone who pretends that every want in the community can be met is absolutely misleading the public. I want to have a rational debate about what we can and should be spending money on. I gave a clear example recently of cancer care in Western Australia. Most members would know from their own electorate officers that someone in Western Australia who has been diagnosed with a non-urgent case of cancer must wait up to six months before receiving radiation treatment. I do not find that acceptable. To me it is a number one priority to fix that problem. Two weeks ago the Premier announced the first very important step towards fixing the problem of acute need. It is unacceptable that at the most worrying time in their lives people who have been diagnosed with and perhaps operated on for cancer and need radiation therapy cannot access that care unless their case is of life-threatening urgency. Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(3) At this stage there are no recommendations from the Reid review. A series of discussion papers has been released dealing with, as I recollect, 12 discrete areas of health care delivery in Western Australia. It is intended that as a result of the feedback that comes from those discussion papers, we will receive a comprehensive report in approximately March next year with a series of recommendations, which will then be important - Mr M.F. Board: The Country Health Services Review recommended Moora as a district centre. Mr J.A. McGINTY: But Reid did not. Discussion papers are with us now and we will be debating this matter in some considerable detail. However, I make the general observation that for many - I include the Opposition in this - there is a cargo cult mentality that if people look skyward, everything they want will be delivered. We as a community need to face up to the reality - Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. Mr M.J. Birney interjected The SPEAKER: The member for Merredin and the member for Kalgoorlie! Mr J.A. McGINTY: We as a community must recognise that the amount of money that is available to be spent on health is not an unending supply of money; it does not grow on trees. We must look at the priority areas of health expenditure, and that is where we must spend the money. Anyone who pretends that every want in the community can be met is absolutely misleading the public. I want to have a rational debate about what we can and should be spending money on. I gave a clear example recently of cancer care in Western Australia. Most members would know from their own electorate officers that someone in Western Australia who has been diagnosed with a non-urgent case of cancer must wait up to six months before receiving radiation treatment. I do not find that acceptable. To me it is a number one priority to fix that problem. Two weeks ago the Premier announced the first very important step towards fixing the problem of acute need. It is unacceptable that at the most worrying time in their lives people who have been diagnosed with and perhaps operated on for cancer and need radiation therapy cannot access that care unless their case is of life-threatening urgency. Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
(1)-(3) At this stage there are no recommendations from the Reid review. A series of discussion papers has been released dealing with, as I recollect, 12 discrete areas of health care delivery in Western Australia. It is intended that as a result of the feedback that comes from those discussion papers, we will receive a comprehensive report in approximately March next year with a series of recommendations, which will then be important - Mr M.F. Board: The Country Health Services Review recommended Moora as a district centre. Mr J.A. McGINTY: But Reid did not. Discussion papers are with us now and we will be debating this matter in some considerable detail. However, I make the general observation that for many - I include the Opposition in this - there is a cargo cult mentality that if people look skyward, everything they want will be delivered. We as a community need to face up to the reality - Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. Mr M.J. Birney interjected The SPEAKER: The member for Merredin and the member for Kalgoorlie! Mr J.A. McGINTY: We as a community must recognise that the amount of money that is available to be spent on health is not an unending supply of money; it does not grow on trees. We must look at the priority areas of health expenditure, and that is where we must spend the money. Anyone who pretends that every want in the community can be met is absolutely misleading the public. I want to have a rational debate about what we can and should be spending money on. I gave a clear example recently of cancer care in Western Australia. Most members would know from their own electorate officers that someone in Western Australia who has been diagnosed with a non-urgent case of cancer must wait up to six months before receiving radiation treatment. I do not find that acceptable. To me it is a number one priority to fix that problem. Two weeks ago the Premier announced the first very important step towards fixing the problem of acute need. It is unacceptable that at the most worrying time in their lives people who have been diagnosed with and perhaps operated on for cancer and need radiation therapy cannot access that care unless their case is of life-threatening urgency. Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr M.F. Board: The Country Health Services Review recommended Moora as a district centre. Mr J.A. McGINTY: But Reid did not. Discussion papers are with us now and we will be debating this matter in some considerable detail. However, I make the general observation that for many - I include the Opposition in this - there is a cargo cult mentality that if people look skyward, everything they want will be delivered. We as a community need to face up to the reality - Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. Mr M.J. Birney interjected The SPEAKER: The member for Merredin and the member for Kalgoorlie! Mr J.A. McGINTY: We as a community must recognise that the amount of money that is available to be spent on health is not an unending supply of money; it does not grow on trees. We must look at the priority areas of health expenditure, and that is where we must spend the money. Anyone who pretends that every want in the community can be met is absolutely misleading the public. I want to have a rational debate about what we can and should be spending money on. I gave a clear example recently of cancer care in Western Australia. Most members would know from their own electorate officers that someone in Western Australia who has been diagnosed with a non-urgent case of cancer must wait up to six months before receiving radiation treatment. I do not find that acceptable. To me it is a number one priority to fix that problem. Two weeks ago the Premier announced the first very important step towards fixing the problem of acute need. It is unacceptable that at the most worrying time in their lives people who have been diagnosed with and perhaps operated on for cancer and need radiation therapy cannot access that care unless their case is of life-threatening urgency. Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: But Reid did not. Discussion papers are with us now and we will be debating this matter in some considerable detail. However, I make the general observation that for many - I include the Opposition in this - there is a cargo cult mentality that if people look skyward, everything they want will be delivered. We as a community need to face up to the reality - Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. Mr M.J. Birney interjected The SPEAKER: The member for Merredin and the member for Kalgoorlie! Mr J.A. McGINTY: We as a community must recognise that the amount of money that is available to be spent on health is not an unending supply of money; it does not grow on trees. We must look at the priority areas of health expenditure, and that is where we must spend the money. Anyone who pretends that every want in the community can be met is absolutely misleading the public. I want to have a rational debate about what we can and should be spending money on. I gave a clear example recently of cancer care in Western Australia. Most members would know from their own electorate officers that someone in Western Australia who has been diagnosed with a non-urgent case of cancer must wait up to six months before receiving radiation treatment. I do not find that acceptable. To me it is a number one priority to fix that problem. Two weeks ago the Premier announced the first very important step towards fixing the problem of acute need. It is unacceptable that at the most worrying time in their lives people who have been diagnosed with and perhaps operated on for cancer and need radiation therapy cannot access that care unless their case is of life-threatening urgency. Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. Mr M.J. Birney interjected The SPEAKER: The member for Merredin and the member for Kalgoorlie! Mr J.A. McGINTY: We as a community must recognise that the amount of money that is available to be spent on health is not an unending supply of money; it does not grow on trees. We must look at the priority areas of health expenditure, and that is where we must spend the money. Anyone who pretends that every want in the community can be met is absolutely misleading the public. I want to have a rational debate about what we can and should be spending money on. I gave a clear example recently of cancer care in Western Australia. Most members would know from their own electorate officers that someone in Western Australia who has been diagnosed with a non-urgent case of cancer must wait up to six months before receiving radiation treatment. I do not find that acceptable. To me it is a number one priority to fix that problem. Two weeks ago the Premier announced the first very important step towards fixing the problem of acute need. It is unacceptable that at the most worrying time in their lives people who have been diagnosed with and perhaps operated on for cancer and need radiation therapy cannot access that care unless their case is of life-threatening urgency. Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr M.J. Birney interjected The SPEAKER: The member for Merredin and the member for Kalgoorlie! Mr J.A. McGINTY: We as a community must recognise that the amount of money that is available to be spent on health is not an unending supply of money; it does not grow on trees. We must look at the priority areas of health expenditure, and that is where we must spend the money. Anyone who pretends that every want in the community can be met is absolutely misleading the public. I want to have a rational debate about what we can and should be spending money on. I gave a clear example recently of cancer care in Western Australia. Most members would know from their own electorate officers that someone in Western Australia who has been diagnosed with a non-urgent case of cancer must wait up to six months before receiving radiation treatment. I do not find that acceptable. To me it is a number one priority to fix that problem. Two weeks ago the Premier announced the first very important step towards fixing the problem of acute need. It is unacceptable that at the most worrying time in their lives people who have been diagnosed with and perhaps operated on for cancer and need radiation therapy cannot access that care unless their case is of life-threatening urgency. Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
The SPEAKER: The member for Merredin and the member for Kalgoorlie! Mr J.A. McGINTY: We as a community must recognise that the amount of money that is available to be spent on health is not an unending supply of money; it does not grow on trees. We must look at the priority areas of health expenditure, and that is where we must spend the money. Anyone who pretends that every want in the community can be met is absolutely misleading the public. I want to have a rational debate about what we can and should be spending money on. I gave a clear example recently of cancer care in Western Australia. Most members would know from their own electorate officers that someone in Western Australia who has been diagnosed with a non-urgent case of cancer must wait up to six months before receiving radiation treatment. I do not find that acceptable. To me it is a number one priority to fix that problem. Two weeks ago the Premier announced the first very important step towards fixing the problem of acute need. It is unacceptable that at the most worrying time in their lives people who have been diagnosed with and perhaps operated on for cancer and need radiation therapy cannot access that care unless their case is of life-threatening urgency. Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: We as a community must recognise that the amount of money that is available to be spent on health is not an unending supply of money; it does not grow on trees. We must look at the priority areas of health expenditure, and that is where we must spend the money. Anyone who pretends that every want in the community can be met is absolutely misleading the public. I want to have a rational debate about what we can and should be spending money on. I gave a clear example recently of cancer care in Western Australia. Most members would know from their own electorate officers that someone in Western Australia who has been diagnosed with a non-urgent case of cancer must wait up to six months before receiving radiation treatment. I do not find that acceptable. To me it is a number one priority to fix that problem. Two weeks ago the Premier announced the first very important step towards fixing the problem of acute need. It is unacceptable that at the most worrying time in their lives people who have been diagnosed with and perhaps operated on for cancer and need radiation therapy cannot access that care unless their case is of life-threatening urgency. Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
(1) Is the minister aware that both reports recommend that Moora become a regional resource centre, which would take on an enhanced role in the provision of primary and secondary care for its populations in surrounding towns and communities? (2) How does the minister reconcile the findings of both reports with his decision to totally abandon the new Moora hospital project? (3) Why did the minister spend more than $1 million on the Reid review if he is simply going to ignore its recommendations? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(3) At this stage there are no recommendations from the Reid review. A series of discussion papers has been released dealing with, as I recollect, 12 discrete areas of health care delivery in Western Australia. It is intended that as a result of the feedback that comes from those discussion papers, we will receive a comprehensive report in approximately March next year with a series of recommendations, which will then be important - Mr M.F. Board: The Country Health Services Review recommended Moora as a district centre. Mr J.A. McGINTY: But Reid did not. Discussion papers are with us now and we will be debating this matter in some considerable detail. However, I make the general observation that for many - I include the Opposition in this - there is a cargo cult mentality that if people look skyward, everything they want will be delivered. We as a community need to face up to the reality - Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. Mr M.J. Birney interjected The SPEAKER: The member for Merredin and the member for Kalgoorlie! Mr J.A. McGINTY: We as a community must recognise that the amount of money that is available to be spent on health is not an unending supply of money; it does not grow on trees. We must look at the priority areas of health expenditure, and that is where we must spend the money. Anyone who pretends that every want in the community can be met is absolutely misleading the public. I want to have a rational debate about what we can and should be spending money on. I gave a clear example recently of cancer care in Western Australia. Most members would know from their own electorate officers that someone in Western Australia who has been diagnosed with a non-urgent case of cancer must wait up to six months before receiving radiation treatment. I do not find that acceptable. To me it is a number one priority to fix that problem. Two weeks ago the Premier announced the first very important step towards fixing the problem of acute need. It is unacceptable that at the most worrying time in their lives people who have been diagnosed with and perhaps operated on for cancer and need radiation therapy cannot access that care unless their case is of life-threatening urgency. Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
(2) How does the minister reconcile the findings of both reports with his decision to totally abandon the new Moora hospital project? (3) Why did the minister spend more than $1 million on the Reid review if he is simply going to ignore its recommendations? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(3) At this stage there are no recommendations from the Reid review. A series of discussion papers has been released dealing with, as I recollect, 12 discrete areas of health care delivery in Western Australia. It is intended that as a result of the feedback that comes from those discussion papers, we will receive a comprehensive report in approximately March next year with a series of recommendations, which will then be important - Mr M.F. Board: The Country Health Services Review recommended Moora as a district centre. Mr J.A. McGINTY: But Reid did not. Discussion papers are with us now and we will be debating this matter in some considerable detail. However, I make the general observation that for many - I include the Opposition in this - there is a cargo cult mentality that if people look skyward, everything they want will be delivered. We as a community need to face up to the reality - Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. Mr M.J. Birney interjected The SPEAKER: The member for Merredin and the member for Kalgoorlie! Mr J.A. McGINTY: We as a community must recognise that the amount of money that is available to be spent on health is not an unending supply of money; it does not grow on trees. We must look at the priority areas of health expenditure, and that is where we must spend the money. Anyone who pretends that every want in the community can be met is absolutely misleading the public. I want to have a rational debate about what we can and should be spending money on. I gave a clear example recently of cancer care in Western Australia. Most members would know from their own electorate officers that someone in Western Australia who has been diagnosed with a non-urgent case of cancer must wait up to six months before receiving radiation treatment. I do not find that acceptable. To me it is a number one priority to fix that problem. Two weeks ago the Premier announced the first very important step towards fixing the problem of acute need. It is unacceptable that at the most worrying time in their lives people who have been diagnosed with and perhaps operated on for cancer and need radiation therapy cannot access that care unless their case is of life-threatening urgency. Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
(3) Why did the minister spend more than $1 million on the Reid review if he is simply going to ignore its recommendations? Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(3) At this stage there are no recommendations from the Reid review. A series of discussion papers has been released dealing with, as I recollect, 12 discrete areas of health care delivery in Western Australia. It is intended that as a result of the feedback that comes from those discussion papers, we will receive a comprehensive report in approximately March next year with a series of recommendations, which will then be important - Mr M.F. Board: The Country Health Services Review recommended Moora as a district centre. Mr J.A. McGINTY: But Reid did not. Discussion papers are with us now and we will be debating this matter in some considerable detail. However, I make the general observation that for many - I include the Opposition in this - there is a cargo cult mentality that if people look skyward, everything they want will be delivered. We as a community need to face up to the reality - Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. Mr M.J. Birney interjected The SPEAKER: The member for Merredin and the member for Kalgoorlie! Mr J.A. McGINTY: We as a community must recognise that the amount of money that is available to be spent on health is not an unending supply of money; it does not grow on trees. We must look at the priority areas of health expenditure, and that is where we must spend the money. Anyone who pretends that every want in the community can be met is absolutely misleading the public. I want to have a rational debate about what we can and should be spending money on. I gave a clear example recently of cancer care in Western Australia. Most members would know from their own electorate officers that someone in Western Australia who has been diagnosed with a non-urgent case of cancer must wait up to six months before receiving radiation treatment. I do not find that acceptable. To me it is a number one priority to fix that problem. Two weeks ago the Premier announced the first very important step towards fixing the problem of acute need. It is unacceptable that at the most worrying time in their lives people who have been diagnosed with and perhaps operated on for cancer and need radiation therapy cannot access that care unless their case is of life-threatening urgency. Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: (1)-(3) At this stage there are no recommendations from the Reid review. A series of discussion papers has been released dealing with, as I recollect, 12 discrete areas of health care delivery in Western Australia. It is intended that as a result of the feedback that comes from those discussion papers, we will receive a comprehensive report in approximately March next year with a series of recommendations, which will then be important - Mr M.F. Board: The Country Health Services Review recommended Moora as a district centre. Mr J.A. McGINTY: But Reid did not. Discussion papers are with us now and we will be debating this matter in some considerable detail. However, I make the general observation that for many - I include the Opposition in this - there is a cargo cult mentality that if people look skyward, everything they want will be delivered. We as a community need to face up to the reality - Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. Mr M.J. Birney interjected The SPEAKER: The member for Merredin and the member for Kalgoorlie! Mr J.A. McGINTY: We as a community must recognise that the amount of money that is available to be spent on health is not an unending supply of money; it does not grow on trees. We must look at the priority areas of health expenditure, and that is where we must spend the money. Anyone who pretends that every want in the community can be met is absolutely misleading the public. I want to have a rational debate about what we can and should be spending money on. I gave a clear example recently of cancer care in Western Australia. Most members would know from their own electorate officers that someone in Western Australia who has been diagnosed with a non-urgent case of cancer must wait up to six months before receiving radiation treatment. I do not find that acceptable. To me it is a number one priority to fix that problem. Two weeks ago the Premier announced the first very important step towards fixing the problem of acute need. It is unacceptable that at the most worrying time in their lives people who have been diagnosed with and perhaps operated on for cancer and need radiation therapy cannot access that care unless their case is of life-threatening urgency. Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
(1)-(3) At this stage there are no recommendations from the Reid review. A series of discussion papers has been released dealing with, as I recollect, 12 discrete areas of health care delivery in Western Australia. It is intended that as a result of the feedback that comes from those discussion papers, we will receive a comprehensive report in approximately March next year with a series of recommendations, which will then be important - Mr M.F. Board: The Country Health Services Review recommended Moora as a district centre. Mr J.A. McGINTY: But Reid did not. Discussion papers are with us now and we will be debating this matter in some considerable detail. However, I make the general observation that for many - I include the Opposition in this - there is a cargo cult mentality that if people look skyward, everything they want will be delivered. We as a community need to face up to the reality - Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. Mr M.J. Birney interjected The SPEAKER: The member for Merredin and the member for Kalgoorlie! Mr J.A. McGINTY: We as a community must recognise that the amount of money that is available to be spent on health is not an unending supply of money; it does not grow on trees. We must look at the priority areas of health expenditure, and that is where we must spend the money. Anyone who pretends that every want in the community can be met is absolutely misleading the public. I want to have a rational debate about what we can and should be spending money on. I gave a clear example recently of cancer care in Western Australia. Most members would know from their own electorate officers that someone in Western Australia who has been diagnosed with a non-urgent case of cancer must wait up to six months before receiving radiation treatment. I do not find that acceptable. To me it is a number one priority to fix that problem. Two weeks ago the Premier announced the first very important step towards fixing the problem of acute need. It is unacceptable that at the most worrying time in their lives people who have been diagnosed with and perhaps operated on for cancer and need radiation therapy cannot access that care unless their case is of life-threatening urgency. Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr M.F. Board: The Country Health Services Review recommended Moora as a district centre. Mr J.A. McGINTY: But Reid did not. Discussion papers are with us now and we will be debating this matter in some considerable detail. However, I make the general observation that for many - I include the Opposition in this - there is a cargo cult mentality that if people look skyward, everything they want will be delivered. We as a community need to face up to the reality - Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. Mr M.J. Birney interjected The SPEAKER: The member for Merredin and the member for Kalgoorlie! Mr J.A. McGINTY: We as a community must recognise that the amount of money that is available to be spent on health is not an unending supply of money; it does not grow on trees. We must look at the priority areas of health expenditure, and that is where we must spend the money. Anyone who pretends that every want in the community can be met is absolutely misleading the public. I want to have a rational debate about what we can and should be spending money on. I gave a clear example recently of cancer care in Western Australia. Most members would know from their own electorate officers that someone in Western Australia who has been diagnosed with a non-urgent case of cancer must wait up to six months before receiving radiation treatment. I do not find that acceptable. To me it is a number one priority to fix that problem. Two weeks ago the Premier announced the first very important step towards fixing the problem of acute need. It is unacceptable that at the most worrying time in their lives people who have been diagnosed with and perhaps operated on for cancer and need radiation therapy cannot access that care unless their case is of life-threatening urgency. Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: But Reid did not. Discussion papers are with us now and we will be debating this matter in some considerable detail. However, I make the general observation that for many - I include the Opposition in this - there is a cargo cult mentality that if people look skyward, everything they want will be delivered. We as a community need to face up to the reality - Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. Mr M.J. Birney interjected The SPEAKER: The member for Merredin and the member for Kalgoorlie! Mr J.A. McGINTY: We as a community must recognise that the amount of money that is available to be spent on health is not an unending supply of money; it does not grow on trees. We must look at the priority areas of health expenditure, and that is where we must spend the money. Anyone who pretends that every want in the community can be met is absolutely misleading the public. I want to have a rational debate about what we can and should be spending money on. I gave a clear example recently of cancer care in Western Australia. Most members would know from their own electorate officers that someone in Western Australia who has been diagnosed with a non-urgent case of cancer must wait up to six months before receiving radiation treatment. I do not find that acceptable. To me it is a number one priority to fix that problem. Two weeks ago the Premier announced the first very important step towards fixing the problem of acute need. It is unacceptable that at the most worrying time in their lives people who have been diagnosed with and perhaps operated on for cancer and need radiation therapy cannot access that care unless their case is of life-threatening urgency. Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. Mr M.J. Birney interjected The SPEAKER: The member for Merredin and the member for Kalgoorlie! Mr J.A. McGINTY: We as a community must recognise that the amount of money that is available to be spent on health is not an unending supply of money; it does not grow on trees. We must look at the priority areas of health expenditure, and that is where we must spend the money. Anyone who pretends that every want in the community can be met is absolutely misleading the public. I want to have a rational debate about what we can and should be spending money on. I gave a clear example recently of cancer care in Western Australia. Most members would know from their own electorate officers that someone in Western Australia who has been diagnosed with a non-urgent case of cancer must wait up to six months before receiving radiation treatment. I do not find that acceptable. To me it is a number one priority to fix that problem. Two weeks ago the Premier announced the first very important step towards fixing the problem of acute need. It is unacceptable that at the most worrying time in their lives people who have been diagnosed with and perhaps operated on for cancer and need radiation therapy cannot access that care unless their case is of life-threatening urgency. Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr M.J. Birney interjected The SPEAKER: The member for Merredin and the member for Kalgoorlie! Mr J.A. McGINTY: We as a community must recognise that the amount of money that is available to be spent on health is not an unending supply of money; it does not grow on trees. We must look at the priority areas of health expenditure, and that is where we must spend the money. Anyone who pretends that every want in the community can be met is absolutely misleading the public. I want to have a rational debate about what we can and should be spending money on. I gave a clear example recently of cancer care in Western Australia. Most members would know from their own electorate officers that someone in Western Australia who has been diagnosed with a non-urgent case of cancer must wait up to six months before receiving radiation treatment. I do not find that acceptable. To me it is a number one priority to fix that problem. Two weeks ago the Premier announced the first very important step towards fixing the problem of acute need. It is unacceptable that at the most worrying time in their lives people who have been diagnosed with and perhaps operated on for cancer and need radiation therapy cannot access that care unless their case is of life-threatening urgency. Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
The SPEAKER: The member for Merredin and the member for Kalgoorlie! Mr J.A. McGINTY: We as a community must recognise that the amount of money that is available to be spent on health is not an unending supply of money; it does not grow on trees. We must look at the priority areas of health expenditure, and that is where we must spend the money. Anyone who pretends that every want in the community can be met is absolutely misleading the public. I want to have a rational debate about what we can and should be spending money on. I gave a clear example recently of cancer care in Western Australia. Most members would know from their own electorate officers that someone in Western Australia who has been diagnosed with a non-urgent case of cancer must wait up to six months before receiving radiation treatment. I do not find that acceptable. To me it is a number one priority to fix that problem. Two weeks ago the Premier announced the first very important step towards fixing the problem of acute need. It is unacceptable that at the most worrying time in their lives people who have been diagnosed with and perhaps operated on for cancer and need radiation therapy cannot access that care unless their case is of life-threatening urgency. Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: We as a community must recognise that the amount of money that is available to be spent on health is not an unending supply of money; it does not grow on trees. We must look at the priority areas of health expenditure, and that is where we must spend the money. Anyone who pretends that every want in the community can be met is absolutely misleading the public. I want to have a rational debate about what we can and should be spending money on. I gave a clear example recently of cancer care in Western Australia. Most members would know from their own electorate officers that someone in Western Australia who has been diagnosed with a non-urgent case of cancer must wait up to six months before receiving radiation treatment. I do not find that acceptable. To me it is a number one priority to fix that problem. Two weeks ago the Premier announced the first very important step towards fixing the problem of acute need. It is unacceptable that at the most worrying time in their lives people who have been diagnosed with and perhaps operated on for cancer and need radiation therapy cannot access that care unless their case is of life-threatening urgency. Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: I am trying, Mr Speaker. Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr R.F. Johnson: You are very trying. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: I know. Do not worry, I am going to continue. Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Dr J.M. Woollard interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Alfred Cove. Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: I gave an example of health care that desperately needs an injection of money. The new federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, deserves to be congratulated for the very cooperative way in which the State and Commonwealth Governments have addressed the urgent need to ensure that they are providing cancer care for people in Western Australia. There will be further significant announcements on that very issue. Our objective is to make sure that we spend money where it counts. We can do that only if we say to everyone else who requests money that we are sorry but theirs is a low priority and we cannot afford to do what they want. We have made some hard decisions in respect of some community organisations. We have told them that what they do, as thoroughly worthy as it is, is not a high priority and we need that money to spend on more important issues. It is as simple as that. Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Ms S.E. Walker interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
The SPEAKER: I call to order for the first time the member for Nedlands. Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: We have made hard decisions in respect of some community organisations and we are making very hard decisions in respect of teaching hospitals. We want to ensure that money is available in areas such as cancer care for the general benefit of the entire community. In the months ahead members will see a lot more money diverted from lower priority areas of expenditure into areas with acute problems that have not been properly addressed, for which the public of Western Australia will thank us very much. To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
To answer the specific question on Moora, initially the previous Government and then this Government proposed to build a new hospital at Geraldton. The redevelopment of the Geraldton Regional Hospital site was estimated to be $40 million; the quotes came in at $49 million. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr C.J. Barnett: Who from? Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: From the companies that we asked to tender for it. Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr C.J. Barnett: Who is the contractor? Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Leader of the Opposition should not trivialise such an important issue. We will cover this in the debate, but I make the point - Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr C.J. Barnett interjected. The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
The SPEAKER: Members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: I seek your indulgence, Mr Speaker. I am being as quick as I can with my answer, but because of the incessant interjections, it is taking somewhat longer to answer the question properly. Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
Although the Moora District Hospital is a 20-bed facility, it is presently accommodating 12 patients. Geraldton is a major regional facility, and I will talk more about it. The Government had to decide whether to build a new hospital in Moora, which meant approximately $7 million would have to be deducted from the allocation for the major regional hospital designed to serve the whole of the mid west region, or to enable limited continuation of services in Moora without providing any additional facilities. Frankly, the decision had to be in favour of the major regional hospital servicing one of the most dynamic regions in Western Australia. I say to members opposite who say that we should spend the funds on everything that it cannot be done. That policy would result in the continuation of the process in place when they were in government: every year the health department blew out its budget by more than $100 million. The only responsible decision to make, which I appreciate was not what the people of Moora wanted, was to spend the money on the new hospital in Geraldton. That is more important. Moora will have to wait for its hospital for some years. The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
The member for Murdoch proposes to spend $7 million on this and $8 million on that with gay abandon all around the countryside. That is utterly irresponsible. The only way to deliver a quality health service in Western Australia is to get the health budgets under control and the finances in place so that real priorities can be determined for what will be spent on health services. This Government will make the difficult decisions that members opposite were not prepared to make to ensure that we spend money where it is truly needed. It is doing that, as unfortunate as that is for the people of Moora.
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