❓ Mr Cook questions Dr Hames regarding the AMA's claim of increased elective surgery wait times. Dr Hames refutes the claim, stating the AMA used outdated figures and invites them to review current data.
AnsweredQoN 790Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HEALTH — ELECTIVE SURGERY WAITLIST
I have a supplementary question. The accusation from the Australian Medical Association is that under the minister’s watch the median waiting times for elective surgery have increased. Is the minister correct and the AMA is telling lies, or is the AMA correct? Dr K.D. HAMES
I have a supplementary question. The accusation from the Australian Medical Association is that under the minister’s watch the median waiting times for elective surgery have increased. Is the minister correct and the AMA is telling lies, or is the AMA correct? Dr K.D. HAMES
AnswerView source ↗
The Australian Medical Association used older figures. The figures I have are published on a month-by-month basis and the shadow Minister for Health has access to them. The AMA was not necessarily wrong at the time when it made that statement, but the figures are clear. Mr R.H. Cook : They made that statement last week. Dr K.D. HAMES : All the member has to do—I know that he does this—is tell the AMA the same thing I can, which is, “Open the books and look at the figures.”
Dr K.D. HAMES replied: The Australian Medical Association used older figures. The figures I have are published on a month-by-month basis and the shadow Minister for Health has access to them. The AMA was not necessarily wrong at the time when it made that statement, but the figures are clear. Mr R.H. Cook : They made that statement last week. Dr K.D. HAMES : All the member has to do—I know that he does this—is tell the AMA the same thing I can, which is, “Open the books and look at the figures.”
The Australian Medical Association used older figures. The figures I have are published on a month-by-month basis and the shadow Minister for Health has access to them. The AMA was not necessarily wrong at the time when it made that statement, but the figures are clear. Mr R.H. Cook : They made that statement last week. Dr K.D. HAMES : All the member has to do—I know that he does this—is tell the AMA the same thing I can, which is, “Open the books and look at the figures.”
Mr R.H. Cook : They made that statement last week. Dr K.D. HAMES : All the member has to do—I know that he does this—is tell the AMA the same thing I can, which is, “Open the books and look at the figures.”
Dr K.D. HAMES : All the member has to do—I know that he does this—is tell the AMA the same thing I can, which is, “Open the books and look at the figures.”
Dr K.D. HAMES replied: The Australian Medical Association used older figures. The figures I have are published on a month-by-month basis and the shadow Minister for Health has access to them. The AMA was not necessarily wrong at the time when it made that statement, but the figures are clear. Mr R.H. Cook : They made that statement last week. Dr K.D. HAMES : All the member has to do—I know that he does this—is tell the AMA the same thing I can, which is, “Open the books and look at the figures.”
The Australian Medical Association used older figures. The figures I have are published on a month-by-month basis and the shadow Minister for Health has access to them. The AMA was not necessarily wrong at the time when it made that statement, but the figures are clear. Mr R.H. Cook : They made that statement last week. Dr K.D. HAMES : All the member has to do—I know that he does this—is tell the AMA the same thing I can, which is, “Open the books and look at the figures.”
Mr R.H. Cook : They made that statement last week. Dr K.D. HAMES : All the member has to do—I know that he does this—is tell the AMA the same thing I can, which is, “Open the books and look at the figures.”
Dr K.D. HAMES : All the member has to do—I know that he does this—is tell the AMA the same thing I can, which is, “Open the books and look at the figures.”
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.