Mr TOYNE - 1998-04-21
I see that he finally has the report. I refer him to page 4. This damning report into the betrayal of central Australians needing health services cites a submission which states that Alice Springs Hospital staff performed $700 000-worth of preventable foot and lower limb amputations. Can the minister report to the parliament how many Territorians had their limbs amputated in preventable circumstances? Will the minister detail what urgent action he has taken to avoid preventable amputations?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the honourable member for his question because I was trying to think of a way to rise to comment on the member for Arafura's earlier question.
This is an interim report. What is happening is that, once again, the Australian Labor Party is misleading the House. This is a report that I have not seen. It is a report that has not yet been forwarded to me with recommendations. The member for Stuart has the hide to stand up and ask me a question about the contents of this report, asserting that this is a final draft report. From flicking through it, there are a number of positive comments in the report. However, the member has focused on a few of the negatives. That is not
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unusual. It was not long ago that, in relation to alcohol issues in Alice Springs, the member for Stuart was reported in the Centralian Advocate as saying that it is time we had ...
Mr Toyne interjecting.
Mr BURKE: You attended for 2 hours a conference that continued for 2 days, and then you issued a press release saying it was time we had action on alcohol problems. This is the gentleman who knows nothing about the Living With Alcohol program that has been running successfully in the Northern Territory for many years to combat alcohol abuse, much of it targeted at Aboriginal communities. This is no different from the statement the Leader of the Opposition issued recently headed: 'Save the Night Patrol in Borroloola'. That press release accused the government of inaction at a time when I had not received an application for funding for the continuation of that night patrol. In typical fashion, the opposition issued a press release in an attempt to mislead Territorians into believing that there is inaction in my department.
Certainly, I can assure allied health professionals dealing with people with disabilities in central Australia that we have had much success with our current arrangements with the Commonwealth. There is an additional $600 000 recurrent over 3 years to deal with specific disability problems, much of which will be targeted for substance abuse problems in Alice Springs. While we are 4 staff members short at the moment, we have had some success in obtaining additional staff in Alice Springs. We are looking at restructuring so that our efforts may be more focused, and I am hopeful that eventually we will be able to attract the proper complement of staff for Alice Springs.
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ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the honourable member for his question because I was trying to think of a way to rise to comment on the member for Arafura's earlier question.
This is an interim report. What is happening is that, once again, the Australian Labor Party is misleading the House. This is a report that I have not seen. It is a report that has not yet been forwarded to me with recommendations. The member for Stuart has the hide to stand up and ask me a question about the contents of this report, asserting that this is a final draft report. From flicking through it, there are a number of positive comments in the report. However, the member has focused on a few of the negatives. That is not
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unusual. It was not long ago that, in relation to alcohol issues in Alice Springs, the member for Stuart was reported in the Centralian Advocate as saying that it is time we had ...
Mr Toyne interjecting.
Mr BURKE: You attended for 2 hours a conference that continued for 2 days, and then you issued a press release saying it was time we had action on alcohol problems. This is the gentleman who knows nothing about the Living With Alcohol program that has been running successfully in the Northern Territory for many years to combat alcohol abuse, much of it targeted at Aboriginal communities. This is no different from the statement the Leader of the Opposition issued recently headed: 'Save the Night Patrol in Borroloola'. That press release accused the government of inaction at a time when I had not received an application for funding for the continuation of that night patrol. In typical fashion, the opposition issued a press release in an attempt to mislead Territorians into believing that there is inaction in my department.
Certainly, I can assure allied health professionals dealing with people with disabilities in central Australia that we have had much success with our current arrangements with the Commonwealth. There is an additional $600 000 recurrent over 3 years to deal with specific disability problems, much of which will be targeted for substance abuse problems in Alice Springs. While we are 4 staff members short at the moment, we have had some success in obtaining additional staff in Alice Springs. We are looking at restructuring so that our efforts may be more focused, and I am hopeful that eventually we will be able to attract the proper complement of staff for Alice Springs.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016