❓ Minister McGinty outlines progress on health reforms, including cancer care investments and criticizes the opposition's health policy as a rehash of old, unfunded proposals.
AnsweredQoN 1357Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Will the minister please outline the progress being made in the State Government’s Health Reform Committee? Mr J.A. McGINTY
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Southern River for the question. I am pleased to advise the House, in the last week of sitting for this year, that the health reform process in Western Australia is moving ahead at a pace. We have released a number of discussion documents from the Reid review. Public input is being sought on those documents and we expect to make recommendations to the Government in March next year. However, because we appreciate the acute need for cancer care for patients in Western Australia, we have taken significant steps, about which I have told the House, to establish Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital as a centre for excellence in cancer care. As the first stage, we have invested a total of $14 million to provide two new linear accelerators to the hospital. We will also advertise this month for a statewide director of cancer services to coordinate the provision of what will be truly a centre for excellence in cancer treatment in Western Australia. It is interesting to note that the Liberal Party view of the health system in Western Australia has been re-released at the same time. That view is not much different from the view that was released with great fanfare in 1998. In The West Australian of 26 June 1998 the notion of acute health care clinics was suggested by the Liberal Government as the way forward to take people out of major teaching hospitals and treat them in suburban facilities. Although the Opposition was in government at that stage, the proposal was neither costed nor funded, and was roundly criticised by the Australian Medical Association. On 3 March 2000 - two years later - the same package was re-released by the then Liberal Government, which proposed the transfer of people from tertiary hospitals to outlying secondary hospitals in the State. Three and a half years ago the Liberal Party said that it proposed to reduce the percentage of patients treated in tertiary hospitals from 75 per cent to 40 per cent. Does that sound a little familiar? Mr M.F. Board: Yes. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not surprising, because it is exactly the same health policy that has been cut and pasted from the Health 2020 policy that was released twice by the Opposition when it was in government. It has now cut, pasted and released it yet again. The health policy was described last week in The West Australian as radical - it is very radical if it has been released twice - and was described by the Leader of the Opposition as a fresh, lateral policy. It is not too fresh; it is starting to get a bit stale by this stage. The policy proposed the establishment of acute health care clinics - sounds familiar - and the transfer of people from tertiary hospitals in the inner city area so as to reduce from the current 47 per cent to 40 per cent the proportion of patients being treated in tertiary hospitals in this State. I simply make the point that last week the Opposition hashed about a tired old policy that is no different in that very essential element. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: It was a cut and paste job from a policy that had been released twice by the Liberal Party when it was in government. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the member for Warren-Blackwood and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Liberal Party’s policy, which had been released twice when it was in government, was not funded on either occasion. That tends to indicate how serious it was about the policy on those occasions. The policy was criticised then because it had nothing to say about the real issues in health care and it had nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. It still has nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. I have read the document and I cannot see anything in it that deals with this very pressing problem that confronts people. What a load of nonsense! The document is silent on the question of addressing elective surgery waiting lists, as it was silent in 1998 and in 2000. This applies to people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The number of people on waiting lists has reduced during our time in government. In fact, the 25 000 people waiting for elective surgery when this Liberal policy was first released has been reduced to 11 000 people today. That is still 11 000 too many, and the Government will continue to drive down that number by directing resources to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. The Liberal Party could not be bothered to address that matter in its policy document. What about emergency departments that are under pressure? All members appreciate that this is one of the most acute problems in our health system. Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: I thank the member for Southern River for the question. I am pleased to advise the House, in the last week of sitting for this year, that the health reform process in Western Australia is moving ahead at a pace. We have released a number of discussion documents from the Reid review. Public input is being sought on those documents and we expect to make recommendations to the Government in March next year. However, because we appreciate the acute need for cancer care for patients in Western Australia, we have taken significant steps, about which I have told the House, to establish Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital as a centre for excellence in cancer care. As the first stage, we have invested a total of $14 million to provide two new linear accelerators to the hospital. We will also advertise this month for a statewide director of cancer services to coordinate the provision of what will be truly a centre for excellence in cancer treatment in Western Australia. It is interesting to note that the Liberal Party view of the health system in Western Australia has been re-released at the same time. That view is not much different from the view that was released with great fanfare in 1998. In The West Australian of 26 June 1998 the notion of acute health care clinics was suggested by the Liberal Government as the way forward to take people out of major teaching hospitals and treat them in suburban facilities. Although the Opposition was in government at that stage, the proposal was neither costed nor funded, and was roundly criticised by the Australian Medical Association. On 3 March 2000 - two years later - the same package was re-released by the then Liberal Government, which proposed the transfer of people from tertiary hospitals to outlying secondary hospitals in the State. Three and a half years ago the Liberal Party said that it proposed to reduce the percentage of patients treated in tertiary hospitals from 75 per cent to 40 per cent. Does that sound a little familiar? Mr M.F. Board: Yes. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not surprising, because it is exactly the same health policy that has been cut and pasted from the Health 2020 policy that was released twice by the Opposition when it was in government. It has now cut, pasted and released it yet again. The health policy was described last week in The West Australian as radical - it is very radical if it has been released twice - and was described by the Leader of the Opposition as a fresh, lateral policy. It is not too fresh; it is starting to get a bit stale by this stage. The policy proposed the establishment of acute health care clinics - sounds familiar - and the transfer of people from tertiary hospitals in the inner city area so as to reduce from the current 47 per cent to 40 per cent the proportion of patients being treated in tertiary hospitals in this State. I simply make the point that last week the Opposition hashed about a tired old policy that is no different in that very essential element. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: It was a cut and paste job from a policy that had been released twice by the Liberal Party when it was in government. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the member for Warren-Blackwood and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Liberal Party’s policy, which had been released twice when it was in government, was not funded on either occasion. That tends to indicate how serious it was about the policy on those occasions. The policy was criticised then because it had nothing to say about the real issues in health care and it had nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. It still has nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. I have read the document and I cannot see anything in it that deals with this very pressing problem that confronts people. What a load of nonsense! The document is silent on the question of addressing elective surgery waiting lists, as it was silent in 1998 and in 2000. This applies to people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The number of people on waiting lists has reduced during our time in government. In fact, the 25 000 people waiting for elective surgery when this Liberal policy was first released has been reduced to 11 000 people today. That is still 11 000 too many, and the Government will continue to drive down that number by directing resources to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. The Liberal Party could not be bothered to address that matter in its policy document. What about emergency departments that are under pressure? All members appreciate that this is one of the most acute problems in our health system. Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
I thank the member for Southern River for the question. I am pleased to advise the House, in the last week of sitting for this year, that the health reform process in Western Australia is moving ahead at a pace. We have released a number of discussion documents from the Reid review. Public input is being sought on those documents and we expect to make recommendations to the Government in March next year. However, because we appreciate the acute need for cancer care for patients in Western Australia, we have taken significant steps, about which I have told the House, to establish Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital as a centre for excellence in cancer care. As the first stage, we have invested a total of $14 million to provide two new linear accelerators to the hospital. We will also advertise this month for a statewide director of cancer services to coordinate the provision of what will be truly a centre for excellence in cancer treatment in Western Australia. It is interesting to note that the Liberal Party view of the health system in Western Australia has been re-released at the same time. That view is not much different from the view that was released with great fanfare in 1998. In The West Australian of 26 June 1998 the notion of acute health care clinics was suggested by the Liberal Government as the way forward to take people out of major teaching hospitals and treat them in suburban facilities. Although the Opposition was in government at that stage, the proposal was neither costed nor funded, and was roundly criticised by the Australian Medical Association. On 3 March 2000 - two years later - the same package was re-released by the then Liberal Government, which proposed the transfer of people from tertiary hospitals to outlying secondary hospitals in the State. Three and a half years ago the Liberal Party said that it proposed to reduce the percentage of patients treated in tertiary hospitals from 75 per cent to 40 per cent. Does that sound a little familiar? Mr M.F. Board: Yes. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not surprising, because it is exactly the same health policy that has been cut and pasted from the Health 2020 policy that was released twice by the Opposition when it was in government. It has now cut, pasted and released it yet again. The health policy was described last week in The West Australian as radical - it is very radical if it has been released twice - and was described by the Leader of the Opposition as a fresh, lateral policy. It is not too fresh; it is starting to get a bit stale by this stage. The policy proposed the establishment of acute health care clinics - sounds familiar - and the transfer of people from tertiary hospitals in the inner city area so as to reduce from the current 47 per cent to 40 per cent the proportion of patients being treated in tertiary hospitals in this State. I simply make the point that last week the Opposition hashed about a tired old policy that is no different in that very essential element. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: It was a cut and paste job from a policy that had been released twice by the Liberal Party when it was in government. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the member for Warren-Blackwood and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Liberal Party’s policy, which had been released twice when it was in government, was not funded on either occasion. That tends to indicate how serious it was about the policy on those occasions. The policy was criticised then because it had nothing to say about the real issues in health care and it had nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. It still has nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. I have read the document and I cannot see anything in it that deals with this very pressing problem that confronts people. What a load of nonsense! The document is silent on the question of addressing elective surgery waiting lists, as it was silent in 1998 and in 2000. This applies to people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The number of people on waiting lists has reduced during our time in government. In fact, the 25 000 people waiting for elective surgery when this Liberal policy was first released has been reduced to 11 000 people today. That is still 11 000 too many, and the Government will continue to drive down that number by directing resources to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. The Liberal Party could not be bothered to address that matter in its policy document. What about emergency departments that are under pressure? All members appreciate that this is one of the most acute problems in our health system. Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
It is interesting to note that the Liberal Party view of the health system in Western Australia has been re-released at the same time. That view is not much different from the view that was released with great fanfare in 1998. In The West Australian of 26 June 1998 the notion of acute health care clinics was suggested by the Liberal Government as the way forward to take people out of major teaching hospitals and treat them in suburban facilities. Although the Opposition was in government at that stage, the proposal was neither costed nor funded, and was roundly criticised by the Australian Medical Association. On 3 March 2000 - two years later - the same package was re-released by the then Liberal Government, which proposed the transfer of people from tertiary hospitals to outlying secondary hospitals in the State. Three and a half years ago the Liberal Party said that it proposed to reduce the percentage of patients treated in tertiary hospitals from 75 per cent to 40 per cent. Does that sound a little familiar? Mr M.F. Board: Yes. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not surprising, because it is exactly the same health policy that has been cut and pasted from the Health 2020 policy that was released twice by the Opposition when it was in government. It has now cut, pasted and released it yet again. The health policy was described last week in The West Australian as radical - it is very radical if it has been released twice - and was described by the Leader of the Opposition as a fresh, lateral policy. It is not too fresh; it is starting to get a bit stale by this stage. The policy proposed the establishment of acute health care clinics - sounds familiar - and the transfer of people from tertiary hospitals in the inner city area so as to reduce from the current 47 per cent to 40 per cent the proportion of patients being treated in tertiary hospitals in this State. I simply make the point that last week the Opposition hashed about a tired old policy that is no different in that very essential element. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: It was a cut and paste job from a policy that had been released twice by the Liberal Party when it was in government. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the member for Warren-Blackwood and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Liberal Party’s policy, which had been released twice when it was in government, was not funded on either occasion. That tends to indicate how serious it was about the policy on those occasions. The policy was criticised then because it had nothing to say about the real issues in health care and it had nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. It still has nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. I have read the document and I cannot see anything in it that deals with this very pressing problem that confronts people. What a load of nonsense! The document is silent on the question of addressing elective surgery waiting lists, as it was silent in 1998 and in 2000. This applies to people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The number of people on waiting lists has reduced during our time in government. In fact, the 25 000 people waiting for elective surgery when this Liberal policy was first released has been reduced to 11 000 people today. That is still 11 000 too many, and the Government will continue to drive down that number by directing resources to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. The Liberal Party could not be bothered to address that matter in its policy document. What about emergency departments that are under pressure? All members appreciate that this is one of the most acute problems in our health system. Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Mr M.F. Board: Yes. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not surprising, because it is exactly the same health policy that has been cut and pasted from the Health 2020 policy that was released twice by the Opposition when it was in government. It has now cut, pasted and released it yet again. The health policy was described last week in The West Australian as radical - it is very radical if it has been released twice - and was described by the Leader of the Opposition as a fresh, lateral policy. It is not too fresh; it is starting to get a bit stale by this stage. The policy proposed the establishment of acute health care clinics - sounds familiar - and the transfer of people from tertiary hospitals in the inner city area so as to reduce from the current 47 per cent to 40 per cent the proportion of patients being treated in tertiary hospitals in this State. I simply make the point that last week the Opposition hashed about a tired old policy that is no different in that very essential element. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: It was a cut and paste job from a policy that had been released twice by the Liberal Party when it was in government. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the member for Warren-Blackwood and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Liberal Party’s policy, which had been released twice when it was in government, was not funded on either occasion. That tends to indicate how serious it was about the policy on those occasions. The policy was criticised then because it had nothing to say about the real issues in health care and it had nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. It still has nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. I have read the document and I cannot see anything in it that deals with this very pressing problem that confronts people. What a load of nonsense! The document is silent on the question of addressing elective surgery waiting lists, as it was silent in 1998 and in 2000. This applies to people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The number of people on waiting lists has reduced during our time in government. In fact, the 25 000 people waiting for elective surgery when this Liberal policy was first released has been reduced to 11 000 people today. That is still 11 000 too many, and the Government will continue to drive down that number by directing resources to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. The Liberal Party could not be bothered to address that matter in its policy document. What about emergency departments that are under pressure? All members appreciate that this is one of the most acute problems in our health system. Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not surprising, because it is exactly the same health policy that has been cut and pasted from the Health 2020 policy that was released twice by the Opposition when it was in government. It has now cut, pasted and released it yet again. The health policy was described last week in The West Australian as radical - it is very radical if it has been released twice - and was described by the Leader of the Opposition as a fresh, lateral policy. It is not too fresh; it is starting to get a bit stale by this stage. The policy proposed the establishment of acute health care clinics - sounds familiar - and the transfer of people from tertiary hospitals in the inner city area so as to reduce from the current 47 per cent to 40 per cent the proportion of patients being treated in tertiary hospitals in this State. I simply make the point that last week the Opposition hashed about a tired old policy that is no different in that very essential element. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: It was a cut and paste job from a policy that had been released twice by the Liberal Party when it was in government. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the member for Warren-Blackwood and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Liberal Party’s policy, which had been released twice when it was in government, was not funded on either occasion. That tends to indicate how serious it was about the policy on those occasions. The policy was criticised then because it had nothing to say about the real issues in health care and it had nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. It still has nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. I have read the document and I cannot see anything in it that deals with this very pressing problem that confronts people. What a load of nonsense! The document is silent on the question of addressing elective surgery waiting lists, as it was silent in 1998 and in 2000. This applies to people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The number of people on waiting lists has reduced during our time in government. In fact, the 25 000 people waiting for elective surgery when this Liberal policy was first released has been reduced to 11 000 people today. That is still 11 000 too many, and the Government will continue to drive down that number by directing resources to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. The Liberal Party could not be bothered to address that matter in its policy document. What about emergency departments that are under pressure? All members appreciate that this is one of the most acute problems in our health system. Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: It was a cut and paste job from a policy that had been released twice by the Liberal Party when it was in government. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the member for Warren-Blackwood and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Liberal Party’s policy, which had been released twice when it was in government, was not funded on either occasion. That tends to indicate how serious it was about the policy on those occasions. The policy was criticised then because it had nothing to say about the real issues in health care and it had nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. It still has nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. I have read the document and I cannot see anything in it that deals with this very pressing problem that confronts people. What a load of nonsense! The document is silent on the question of addressing elective surgery waiting lists, as it was silent in 1998 and in 2000. This applies to people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The number of people on waiting lists has reduced during our time in government. In fact, the 25 000 people waiting for elective surgery when this Liberal policy was first released has been reduced to 11 000 people today. That is still 11 000 too many, and the Government will continue to drive down that number by directing resources to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. The Liberal Party could not be bothered to address that matter in its policy document. What about emergency departments that are under pressure? All members appreciate that this is one of the most acute problems in our health system. Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: It was a cut and paste job from a policy that had been released twice by the Liberal Party when it was in government. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the member for Warren-Blackwood and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Liberal Party’s policy, which had been released twice when it was in government, was not funded on either occasion. That tends to indicate how serious it was about the policy on those occasions. The policy was criticised then because it had nothing to say about the real issues in health care and it had nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. It still has nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. I have read the document and I cannot see anything in it that deals with this very pressing problem that confronts people. What a load of nonsense! The document is silent on the question of addressing elective surgery waiting lists, as it was silent in 1998 and in 2000. This applies to people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The number of people on waiting lists has reduced during our time in government. In fact, the 25 000 people waiting for elective surgery when this Liberal policy was first released has been reduced to 11 000 people today. That is still 11 000 too many, and the Government will continue to drive down that number by directing resources to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. The Liberal Party could not be bothered to address that matter in its policy document. What about emergency departments that are under pressure? All members appreciate that this is one of the most acute problems in our health system. Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: It was a cut and paste job from a policy that had been released twice by the Liberal Party when it was in government. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the member for Warren-Blackwood and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Liberal Party’s policy, which had been released twice when it was in government, was not funded on either occasion. That tends to indicate how serious it was about the policy on those occasions. The policy was criticised then because it had nothing to say about the real issues in health care and it had nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. It still has nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. I have read the document and I cannot see anything in it that deals with this very pressing problem that confronts people. What a load of nonsense! The document is silent on the question of addressing elective surgery waiting lists, as it was silent in 1998 and in 2000. This applies to people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The number of people on waiting lists has reduced during our time in government. In fact, the 25 000 people waiting for elective surgery when this Liberal policy was first released has been reduced to 11 000 people today. That is still 11 000 too many, and the Government will continue to drive down that number by directing resources to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. The Liberal Party could not be bothered to address that matter in its policy document. What about emergency departments that are under pressure? All members appreciate that this is one of the most acute problems in our health system. Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the member for Warren-Blackwood and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Liberal Party’s policy, which had been released twice when it was in government, was not funded on either occasion. That tends to indicate how serious it was about the policy on those occasions. The policy was criticised then because it had nothing to say about the real issues in health care and it had nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. It still has nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. I have read the document and I cannot see anything in it that deals with this very pressing problem that confronts people. What a load of nonsense! The document is silent on the question of addressing elective surgery waiting lists, as it was silent in 1998 and in 2000. This applies to people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The number of people on waiting lists has reduced during our time in government. In fact, the 25 000 people waiting for elective surgery when this Liberal policy was first released has been reduced to 11 000 people today. That is still 11 000 too many, and the Government will continue to drive down that number by directing resources to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. The Liberal Party could not be bothered to address that matter in its policy document. What about emergency departments that are under pressure? All members appreciate that this is one of the most acute problems in our health system. Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
The SPEAKER: I call to order the member for Warren-Blackwood and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Liberal Party’s policy, which had been released twice when it was in government, was not funded on either occasion. That tends to indicate how serious it was about the policy on those occasions. The policy was criticised then because it had nothing to say about the real issues in health care and it had nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. It still has nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. I have read the document and I cannot see anything in it that deals with this very pressing problem that confronts people. What a load of nonsense! The document is silent on the question of addressing elective surgery waiting lists, as it was silent in 1998 and in 2000. This applies to people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The number of people on waiting lists has reduced during our time in government. In fact, the 25 000 people waiting for elective surgery when this Liberal policy was first released has been reduced to 11 000 people today. That is still 11 000 too many, and the Government will continue to drive down that number by directing resources to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. The Liberal Party could not be bothered to address that matter in its policy document. What about emergency departments that are under pressure? All members appreciate that this is one of the most acute problems in our health system. Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Liberal Party’s policy, which had been released twice when it was in government, was not funded on either occasion. That tends to indicate how serious it was about the policy on those occasions. The policy was criticised then because it had nothing to say about the real issues in health care and it had nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. It still has nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. I have read the document and I cannot see anything in it that deals with this very pressing problem that confronts people. What a load of nonsense! The document is silent on the question of addressing elective surgery waiting lists, as it was silent in 1998 and in 2000. This applies to people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The number of people on waiting lists has reduced during our time in government. In fact, the 25 000 people waiting for elective surgery when this Liberal policy was first released has been reduced to 11 000 people today. That is still 11 000 too many, and the Government will continue to drive down that number by directing resources to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. The Liberal Party could not be bothered to address that matter in its policy document. What about emergency departments that are under pressure? All members appreciate that this is one of the most acute problems in our health system. Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
What about emergency departments that are under pressure? All members appreciate that this is one of the most acute problems in our health system. Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: I thank the member for Southern River for the question. I am pleased to advise the House, in the last week of sitting for this year, that the health reform process in Western Australia is moving ahead at a pace. We have released a number of discussion documents from the Reid review. Public input is being sought on those documents and we expect to make recommendations to the Government in March next year. However, because we appreciate the acute need for cancer care for patients in Western Australia, we have taken significant steps, about which I have told the House, to establish Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital as a centre for excellence in cancer care. As the first stage, we have invested a total of $14 million to provide two new linear accelerators to the hospital. We will also advertise this month for a statewide director of cancer services to coordinate the provision of what will be truly a centre for excellence in cancer treatment in Western Australia. It is interesting to note that the Liberal Party view of the health system in Western Australia has been re-released at the same time. That view is not much different from the view that was released with great fanfare in 1998. In The West Australian of 26 June 1998 the notion of acute health care clinics was suggested by the Liberal Government as the way forward to take people out of major teaching hospitals and treat them in suburban facilities. Although the Opposition was in government at that stage, the proposal was neither costed nor funded, and was roundly criticised by the Australian Medical Association. On 3 March 2000 - two years later - the same package was re-released by the then Liberal Government, which proposed the transfer of people from tertiary hospitals to outlying secondary hospitals in the State. Three and a half years ago the Liberal Party said that it proposed to reduce the percentage of patients treated in tertiary hospitals from 75 per cent to 40 per cent. Does that sound a little familiar? Mr M.F. Board: Yes. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not surprising, because it is exactly the same health policy that has been cut and pasted from the Health 2020 policy that was released twice by the Opposition when it was in government. It has now cut, pasted and released it yet again. The health policy was described last week in The West Australian as radical - it is very radical if it has been released twice - and was described by the Leader of the Opposition as a fresh, lateral policy. It is not too fresh; it is starting to get a bit stale by this stage. The policy proposed the establishment of acute health care clinics - sounds familiar - and the transfer of people from tertiary hospitals in the inner city area so as to reduce from the current 47 per cent to 40 per cent the proportion of patients being treated in tertiary hospitals in this State. I simply make the point that last week the Opposition hashed about a tired old policy that is no different in that very essential element. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: It was a cut and paste job from a policy that had been released twice by the Liberal Party when it was in government. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the member for Warren-Blackwood and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Liberal Party’s policy, which had been released twice when it was in government, was not funded on either occasion. That tends to indicate how serious it was about the policy on those occasions. The policy was criticised then because it had nothing to say about the real issues in health care and it had nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. It still has nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. I have read the document and I cannot see anything in it that deals with this very pressing problem that confronts people. What a load of nonsense! The document is silent on the question of addressing elective surgery waiting lists, as it was silent in 1998 and in 2000. This applies to people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The number of people on waiting lists has reduced during our time in government. In fact, the 25 000 people waiting for elective surgery when this Liberal policy was first released has been reduced to 11 000 people today. That is still 11 000 too many, and the Government will continue to drive down that number by directing resources to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. The Liberal Party could not be bothered to address that matter in its policy document. What about emergency departments that are under pressure? All members appreciate that this is one of the most acute problems in our health system. Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
I thank the member for Southern River for the question. I am pleased to advise the House, in the last week of sitting for this year, that the health reform process in Western Australia is moving ahead at a pace. We have released a number of discussion documents from the Reid review. Public input is being sought on those documents and we expect to make recommendations to the Government in March next year. However, because we appreciate the acute need for cancer care for patients in Western Australia, we have taken significant steps, about which I have told the House, to establish Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital as a centre for excellence in cancer care. As the first stage, we have invested a total of $14 million to provide two new linear accelerators to the hospital. We will also advertise this month for a statewide director of cancer services to coordinate the provision of what will be truly a centre for excellence in cancer treatment in Western Australia. It is interesting to note that the Liberal Party view of the health system in Western Australia has been re-released at the same time. That view is not much different from the view that was released with great fanfare in 1998. In The West Australian of 26 June 1998 the notion of acute health care clinics was suggested by the Liberal Government as the way forward to take people out of major teaching hospitals and treat them in suburban facilities. Although the Opposition was in government at that stage, the proposal was neither costed nor funded, and was roundly criticised by the Australian Medical Association. On 3 March 2000 - two years later - the same package was re-released by the then Liberal Government, which proposed the transfer of people from tertiary hospitals to outlying secondary hospitals in the State. Three and a half years ago the Liberal Party said that it proposed to reduce the percentage of patients treated in tertiary hospitals from 75 per cent to 40 per cent. Does that sound a little familiar? Mr M.F. Board: Yes. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not surprising, because it is exactly the same health policy that has been cut and pasted from the Health 2020 policy that was released twice by the Opposition when it was in government. It has now cut, pasted and released it yet again. The health policy was described last week in The West Australian as radical - it is very radical if it has been released twice - and was described by the Leader of the Opposition as a fresh, lateral policy. It is not too fresh; it is starting to get a bit stale by this stage. The policy proposed the establishment of acute health care clinics - sounds familiar - and the transfer of people from tertiary hospitals in the inner city area so as to reduce from the current 47 per cent to 40 per cent the proportion of patients being treated in tertiary hospitals in this State. I simply make the point that last week the Opposition hashed about a tired old policy that is no different in that very essential element. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: It was a cut and paste job from a policy that had been released twice by the Liberal Party when it was in government. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the member for Warren-Blackwood and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Liberal Party’s policy, which had been released twice when it was in government, was not funded on either occasion. That tends to indicate how serious it was about the policy on those occasions. The policy was criticised then because it had nothing to say about the real issues in health care and it had nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. It still has nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. I have read the document and I cannot see anything in it that deals with this very pressing problem that confronts people. What a load of nonsense! The document is silent on the question of addressing elective surgery waiting lists, as it was silent in 1998 and in 2000. This applies to people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The number of people on waiting lists has reduced during our time in government. In fact, the 25 000 people waiting for elective surgery when this Liberal policy was first released has been reduced to 11 000 people today. That is still 11 000 too many, and the Government will continue to drive down that number by directing resources to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. The Liberal Party could not be bothered to address that matter in its policy document. What about emergency departments that are under pressure? All members appreciate that this is one of the most acute problems in our health system. Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
It is interesting to note that the Liberal Party view of the health system in Western Australia has been re-released at the same time. That view is not much different from the view that was released with great fanfare in 1998. In The West Australian of 26 June 1998 the notion of acute health care clinics was suggested by the Liberal Government as the way forward to take people out of major teaching hospitals and treat them in suburban facilities. Although the Opposition was in government at that stage, the proposal was neither costed nor funded, and was roundly criticised by the Australian Medical Association. On 3 March 2000 - two years later - the same package was re-released by the then Liberal Government, which proposed the transfer of people from tertiary hospitals to outlying secondary hospitals in the State. Three and a half years ago the Liberal Party said that it proposed to reduce the percentage of patients treated in tertiary hospitals from 75 per cent to 40 per cent. Does that sound a little familiar? Mr M.F. Board: Yes. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not surprising, because it is exactly the same health policy that has been cut and pasted from the Health 2020 policy that was released twice by the Opposition when it was in government. It has now cut, pasted and released it yet again. The health policy was described last week in The West Australian as radical - it is very radical if it has been released twice - and was described by the Leader of the Opposition as a fresh, lateral policy. It is not too fresh; it is starting to get a bit stale by this stage. The policy proposed the establishment of acute health care clinics - sounds familiar - and the transfer of people from tertiary hospitals in the inner city area so as to reduce from the current 47 per cent to 40 per cent the proportion of patients being treated in tertiary hospitals in this State. I simply make the point that last week the Opposition hashed about a tired old policy that is no different in that very essential element. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: It was a cut and paste job from a policy that had been released twice by the Liberal Party when it was in government. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the member for Warren-Blackwood and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Liberal Party’s policy, which had been released twice when it was in government, was not funded on either occasion. That tends to indicate how serious it was about the policy on those occasions. The policy was criticised then because it had nothing to say about the real issues in health care and it had nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. It still has nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. I have read the document and I cannot see anything in it that deals with this very pressing problem that confronts people. What a load of nonsense! The document is silent on the question of addressing elective surgery waiting lists, as it was silent in 1998 and in 2000. This applies to people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The number of people on waiting lists has reduced during our time in government. In fact, the 25 000 people waiting for elective surgery when this Liberal policy was first released has been reduced to 11 000 people today. That is still 11 000 too many, and the Government will continue to drive down that number by directing resources to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. The Liberal Party could not be bothered to address that matter in its policy document. What about emergency departments that are under pressure? All members appreciate that this is one of the most acute problems in our health system. Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Mr M.F. Board: Yes. Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not surprising, because it is exactly the same health policy that has been cut and pasted from the Health 2020 policy that was released twice by the Opposition when it was in government. It has now cut, pasted and released it yet again. The health policy was described last week in The West Australian as radical - it is very radical if it has been released twice - and was described by the Leader of the Opposition as a fresh, lateral policy. It is not too fresh; it is starting to get a bit stale by this stage. The policy proposed the establishment of acute health care clinics - sounds familiar - and the transfer of people from tertiary hospitals in the inner city area so as to reduce from the current 47 per cent to 40 per cent the proportion of patients being treated in tertiary hospitals in this State. I simply make the point that last week the Opposition hashed about a tired old policy that is no different in that very essential element. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: It was a cut and paste job from a policy that had been released twice by the Liberal Party when it was in government. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the member for Warren-Blackwood and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Liberal Party’s policy, which had been released twice when it was in government, was not funded on either occasion. That tends to indicate how serious it was about the policy on those occasions. The policy was criticised then because it had nothing to say about the real issues in health care and it had nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. It still has nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. I have read the document and I cannot see anything in it that deals with this very pressing problem that confronts people. What a load of nonsense! The document is silent on the question of addressing elective surgery waiting lists, as it was silent in 1998 and in 2000. This applies to people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The number of people on waiting lists has reduced during our time in government. In fact, the 25 000 people waiting for elective surgery when this Liberal policy was first released has been reduced to 11 000 people today. That is still 11 000 too many, and the Government will continue to drive down that number by directing resources to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. The Liberal Party could not be bothered to address that matter in its policy document. What about emergency departments that are under pressure? All members appreciate that this is one of the most acute problems in our health system. Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: That is not surprising, because it is exactly the same health policy that has been cut and pasted from the Health 2020 policy that was released twice by the Opposition when it was in government. It has now cut, pasted and released it yet again. The health policy was described last week in The West Australian as radical - it is very radical if it has been released twice - and was described by the Leader of the Opposition as a fresh, lateral policy. It is not too fresh; it is starting to get a bit stale by this stage. The policy proposed the establishment of acute health care clinics - sounds familiar - and the transfer of people from tertiary hospitals in the inner city area so as to reduce from the current 47 per cent to 40 per cent the proportion of patients being treated in tertiary hospitals in this State. I simply make the point that last week the Opposition hashed about a tired old policy that is no different in that very essential element. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: It was a cut and paste job from a policy that had been released twice by the Liberal Party when it was in government. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the member for Warren-Blackwood and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Liberal Party’s policy, which had been released twice when it was in government, was not funded on either occasion. That tends to indicate how serious it was about the policy on those occasions. The policy was criticised then because it had nothing to say about the real issues in health care and it had nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. It still has nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. I have read the document and I cannot see anything in it that deals with this very pressing problem that confronts people. What a load of nonsense! The document is silent on the question of addressing elective surgery waiting lists, as it was silent in 1998 and in 2000. This applies to people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The number of people on waiting lists has reduced during our time in government. In fact, the 25 000 people waiting for elective surgery when this Liberal policy was first released has been reduced to 11 000 people today. That is still 11 000 too many, and the Government will continue to drive down that number by directing resources to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. The Liberal Party could not be bothered to address that matter in its policy document. What about emergency departments that are under pressure? All members appreciate that this is one of the most acute problems in our health system. Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: It was a cut and paste job from a policy that had been released twice by the Liberal Party when it was in government. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the member for Warren-Blackwood and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Liberal Party’s policy, which had been released twice when it was in government, was not funded on either occasion. That tends to indicate how serious it was about the policy on those occasions. The policy was criticised then because it had nothing to say about the real issues in health care and it had nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. It still has nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. I have read the document and I cannot see anything in it that deals with this very pressing problem that confronts people. What a load of nonsense! The document is silent on the question of addressing elective surgery waiting lists, as it was silent in 1998 and in 2000. This applies to people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The number of people on waiting lists has reduced during our time in government. In fact, the 25 000 people waiting for elective surgery when this Liberal policy was first released has been reduced to 11 000 people today. That is still 11 000 too many, and the Government will continue to drive down that number by directing resources to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. The Liberal Party could not be bothered to address that matter in its policy document. What about emergency departments that are under pressure? All members appreciate that this is one of the most acute problems in our health system. Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
The SPEAKER: Order, members! Mr J.A. McGINTY: It was a cut and paste job from a policy that had been released twice by the Liberal Party when it was in government. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the member for Warren-Blackwood and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Liberal Party’s policy, which had been released twice when it was in government, was not funded on either occasion. That tends to indicate how serious it was about the policy on those occasions. The policy was criticised then because it had nothing to say about the real issues in health care and it had nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. It still has nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. I have read the document and I cannot see anything in it that deals with this very pressing problem that confronts people. What a load of nonsense! The document is silent on the question of addressing elective surgery waiting lists, as it was silent in 1998 and in 2000. This applies to people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The number of people on waiting lists has reduced during our time in government. In fact, the 25 000 people waiting for elective surgery when this Liberal policy was first released has been reduced to 11 000 people today. That is still 11 000 too many, and the Government will continue to drive down that number by directing resources to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. The Liberal Party could not be bothered to address that matter in its policy document. What about emergency departments that are under pressure? All members appreciate that this is one of the most acute problems in our health system. Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: It was a cut and paste job from a policy that had been released twice by the Liberal Party when it was in government. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the member for Warren-Blackwood and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Liberal Party’s policy, which had been released twice when it was in government, was not funded on either occasion. That tends to indicate how serious it was about the policy on those occasions. The policy was criticised then because it had nothing to say about the real issues in health care and it had nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. It still has nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. I have read the document and I cannot see anything in it that deals with this very pressing problem that confronts people. What a load of nonsense! The document is silent on the question of addressing elective surgery waiting lists, as it was silent in 1998 and in 2000. This applies to people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The number of people on waiting lists has reduced during our time in government. In fact, the 25 000 people waiting for elective surgery when this Liberal policy was first released has been reduced to 11 000 people today. That is still 11 000 too many, and the Government will continue to drive down that number by directing resources to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. The Liberal Party could not be bothered to address that matter in its policy document. What about emergency departments that are under pressure? All members appreciate that this is one of the most acute problems in our health system. Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER: I call to order the member for Warren-Blackwood and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Liberal Party’s policy, which had been released twice when it was in government, was not funded on either occasion. That tends to indicate how serious it was about the policy on those occasions. The policy was criticised then because it had nothing to say about the real issues in health care and it had nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. It still has nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. I have read the document and I cannot see anything in it that deals with this very pressing problem that confronts people. What a load of nonsense! The document is silent on the question of addressing elective surgery waiting lists, as it was silent in 1998 and in 2000. This applies to people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The number of people on waiting lists has reduced during our time in government. In fact, the 25 000 people waiting for elective surgery when this Liberal policy was first released has been reduced to 11 000 people today. That is still 11 000 too many, and the Government will continue to drive down that number by directing resources to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. The Liberal Party could not be bothered to address that matter in its policy document. What about emergency departments that are under pressure? All members appreciate that this is one of the most acute problems in our health system. Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
The SPEAKER: I call to order the member for Warren-Blackwood and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Liberal Party’s policy, which had been released twice when it was in government, was not funded on either occasion. That tends to indicate how serious it was about the policy on those occasions. The policy was criticised then because it had nothing to say about the real issues in health care and it had nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. It still has nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. I have read the document and I cannot see anything in it that deals with this very pressing problem that confronts people. What a load of nonsense! The document is silent on the question of addressing elective surgery waiting lists, as it was silent in 1998 and in 2000. This applies to people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The number of people on waiting lists has reduced during our time in government. In fact, the 25 000 people waiting for elective surgery when this Liberal policy was first released has been reduced to 11 000 people today. That is still 11 000 too many, and the Government will continue to drive down that number by directing resources to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. The Liberal Party could not be bothered to address that matter in its policy document. What about emergency departments that are under pressure? All members appreciate that this is one of the most acute problems in our health system. Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: The Liberal Party’s policy, which had been released twice when it was in government, was not funded on either occasion. That tends to indicate how serious it was about the policy on those occasions. The policy was criticised then because it had nothing to say about the real issues in health care and it had nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. It still has nothing to say about elective surgery waiting lists. I have read the document and I cannot see anything in it that deals with this very pressing problem that confronts people. What a load of nonsense! The document is silent on the question of addressing elective surgery waiting lists, as it was silent in 1998 and in 2000. This applies to people waiting for elective surgery in Western Australia. The number of people on waiting lists has reduced during our time in government. In fact, the 25 000 people waiting for elective surgery when this Liberal policy was first released has been reduced to 11 000 people today. That is still 11 000 too many, and the Government will continue to drive down that number by directing resources to reduce elective surgery waiting lists. The Liberal Party could not be bothered to address that matter in its policy document. What about emergency departments that are under pressure? All members appreciate that this is one of the most acute problems in our health system. Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
What about emergency departments that are under pressure? All members appreciate that this is one of the most acute problems in our health system. Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Mr E.S. Ripper: Send them home - that’s the Liberal response. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: Maybe it is to send them home. Nothing in the policy will provide any relief next winter or the following winter for people needing emergency treatment in our tertiary hospitals. In moments of desperate need when facing a life and death emergency situation, people want to know they will be treated properly in our tertiary hospitals. The Liberal Party is silent on that fundamental question. The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
The SPEAKER: Order, member for Darling Range! Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: What about the other issue of great concern to the public of this State? Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Several members interjected. Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: Members opposite do not like to hear the truth about the shallowness of their policy. The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
The SPEAKER: Order! I call to order the members for Vasse and Darling Range. Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
Mr J.A. McGINTY: A matter that requires attention in our health system by the Government of the day is overcoming duplication, waste and spending money on low priority areas, and, in particular, increasingly spending money on the bureaucracy behind health that does nothing to provide health care services for the people of Western Australia. A quick look through the Liberal Party policy released last week reveals that a great emphasis will be placed on another bureaucratic layer to be imposed, at great cost to the system, on the people of Western Australia. Hospital boards will return and district health councils will be created. District health directors will be created as very senior, highly paid public servants - to do what? They will provide not one element of health care to the public of Western Australia, but will be another layer of bureaucracy. Regional boards will be created in the metropolitan health service. In addition to the chief executive officers of the teaching hospitals, and each other hospital, new positions of regional CEOs will be created. It will probably cost $200 000 a shot for bureaucrats at that level. Will they provide any health care? The answer is a crystal clear no. The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
The policy document released last week is a cut and paste from something now released on three occasions by the Liberal Party - twice when in government - and it suffers the same problem it faced when previously released; namely, it is not funded. The Liberal Party is not serious about this issue. No wonder the policy has gone down like a damp squib with the general public.
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