Dr LIM - 1995-11-23
What health issues will the minister raise with the federal Minister for Human Services and Health at the Health Ministers Conference scheduled for tomorrow?
ANSWER
None, Mr Speaker.
Mr Ede: None?
Mr FINCH: I will be raising no issues on behalf of Territorians at tomorrow's scheduled meeting of health ministers, a meeting that has been cancelled for the third time now. There is nothing unusual in that. I understand that it happened to my predecessor.
Mr Reed: That is true.
Mr FINCH: In fact, the most recent Health Ministers Conference was cancelled. I have to say that I am extremely disappointed. It is now 5 months since I took over this portfolio and I have not yet been able to meet with the federal minister. Whilst I have written many letters to her, nonetheless there is no more effective way of representing constituents and
Page 1048
their problems than by doing so in person. There are some problems pertaining to issues of joint concern, and others that relate totally to the Commonwealth's responsibility. The first meeting was scheduled for last September, a little over 2 months after I became Minister for Health Services. That would have been a good opportunity but ...
Mr Bailey: How long do we have to wait to visit the prisons?
Mr FINCH: The waiting is the concern because the ...
Mr Bailey: Yes. We ask for meetings and you put us on hold for months.
Mr Ede: That is the problem with having a Country Liberal Party government here. You cannot even obtain a meeting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr FINCH: I will take up that interjection, because I am beginning to get a feeling for this. The Leader of the Opposition suggests that the reason why I have been unable to obtain a meeting with Carmen Lawrence is because I am a CLP representative. That is not good enough.
Mr Ede: Because you are a joke! You are a national joke.
Mr FINCH: It is all right for her to have ...
Members interjecting.
Mr Stirling: She heard you were not going to be around for very long.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr FINCH: It is all right for the federal minister to meet Alison Anderson at Papunya over an issue pertaining to her sacking of not one but now 2 nurses from that community. That is a matter for which she ought to be castigated, not patronised by a meeting with the federal minister whom I am still waiting to meet 5 months later.
There are some serious issues. Members of the Public Accounts Committee would be aware that Territorian Aboriginals are being short-changed from Medicare by $20m at least - that is, on the basis of a per capita share of the Medicare bucket. The same Grants Commission officer indicated that the multiplier used by the Grants Commission to take into account factors involved with delivery of services in the bush is 5.6. Territorian Aboriginals may be missing out on more than $100m from the Commonwealth bucket.
Mr Ede: You said we were getting $30m more.
Mr FINCH: Why don't you read what was said?
Mr Ede interjecting.
Page 1049
Mr FINCH: You have an awfully strange interpretation of it. That is one issue. Let me take another issue.
Members interjecting.
Mr FINCH: In relation to their repeatedly slinging off at me, if members think I am shattered by it, they can forget it. I am actually flattered by their attention.
If they want to listen for a moment, I will tell them about the transfer of ATSIC funds to the Department of Human Services and Health. The member for Arnhem has a few constituents who have been asking him where their missing federal money has gone. Last week, 5 months into the budgetary period, the Commonwealth agreed to transfer the lousy little bucket. When I say `lousy little bucket', I am referring to the $100m Commonwealth commitment to the whole nation for Aboriginal health. What is the Territory share? It is $10m! That means that 10% of the national bucket has been allocated to provide for something like 20% of the Aboriginals in this country. They are being short-changed even on a per capita basis. If the member is talking with ATSIC people and people in the bush, he will know that that is the truth. Not only does the federal government ignore the delivery difficulties for Aboriginal people in the bush, but it ignores also their challenging health problems - problems that are a little greater than those of urban Aboriginals in Sydney or Melbourne. Sydney or Melbourne Aboriginals receive more than their fair share on a per capita basis. Where are Territory Aboriginals left by this socialist government? They are being ignored. They are being short-changed. Those are some of the issues that I want to take up with the federal minister. I am sure that members opposite will not have bothered to speak out about these matters.
During Breast Cancer Week recently, the member for Fannie Bay was briefed on our mammography and breast cancer services. Did she learn how costly it is to provide services to Territory women in remote locations? How is the Commonwealth funding for breast cancer programs calculated? It is done on a per capita basis. Territory women are being short-changed. That is not to mention some of the other special health programs that the Commonwealth comes up with. Territorians are funded on a per capita basis. It does not matter that the program has to be delivered at Numbulwar, Maningrida or Papunya. Per capita funding is considered all right for Territorians because we have only one vote in the House of Representatives. The federal government keeps its socialist policies ...
Mr Ede: Because our Minister for Health Services is a joke.
Mr FINCH: Those are some of the issues, among many others, that I wanted to take up with the federal minister.
There has been a note of frustration in my answer this morning. I find it absolutely preposterous that a woman has discharged not only one nurse from her community, but also a second nurse. The latter occurrence has not been mentioned in the newspapers. Probably, Alison Anderson is a little shy about it. The woman harangued the replacement nurse and her husband, whom we sent to Papunya, to the extent that they left the community. That is the type of person to whom the federal minister is prepared to grant an audience, not only once but
Page 1050
again in Canberra the other week. I am a little frustrated, but I will not leave it at that. I am not sure how long Carmen will be in the job ...
Mr Ede: Longer than you.
Mr Stone: Would you like to put money on it?
Mr FINCH: The Chief Minister has offered to put a carton on it. I am really pleased to hear that. I thank members for their intervention in support of my ministerial career.
Page 1051
ANSWER
None, Mr Speaker.
Mr Ede: None?
Mr FINCH: I will be raising no issues on behalf of Territorians at tomorrow's scheduled meeting of health ministers, a meeting that has been cancelled for the third time now. There is nothing unusual in that. I understand that it happened to my predecessor.
Mr Reed: That is true.
Mr FINCH: In fact, the most recent Health Ministers Conference was cancelled. I have to say that I am extremely disappointed. It is now 5 months since I took over this portfolio and I have not yet been able to meet with the federal minister. Whilst I have written many letters to her, nonetheless there is no more effective way of representing constituents and
Page 1048
their problems than by doing so in person. There are some problems pertaining to issues of joint concern, and others that relate totally to the Commonwealth's responsibility. The first meeting was scheduled for last September, a little over 2 months after I became Minister for Health Services. That would have been a good opportunity but ...
Mr Bailey: How long do we have to wait to visit the prisons?
Mr FINCH: The waiting is the concern because the ...
Mr Bailey: Yes. We ask for meetings and you put us on hold for months.
Mr Ede: That is the problem with having a Country Liberal Party government here. You cannot even obtain a meeting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr FINCH: I will take up that interjection, because I am beginning to get a feeling for this. The Leader of the Opposition suggests that the reason why I have been unable to obtain a meeting with Carmen Lawrence is because I am a CLP representative. That is not good enough.
Mr Ede: Because you are a joke! You are a national joke.
Mr FINCH: It is all right for her to have ...
Members interjecting.
Mr Stirling: She heard you were not going to be around for very long.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr FINCH: It is all right for the federal minister to meet Alison Anderson at Papunya over an issue pertaining to her sacking of not one but now 2 nurses from that community. That is a matter for which she ought to be castigated, not patronised by a meeting with the federal minister whom I am still waiting to meet 5 months later.
There are some serious issues. Members of the Public Accounts Committee would be aware that Territorian Aboriginals are being short-changed from Medicare by $20m at least - that is, on the basis of a per capita share of the Medicare bucket. The same Grants Commission officer indicated that the multiplier used by the Grants Commission to take into account factors involved with delivery of services in the bush is 5.6. Territorian Aboriginals may be missing out on more than $100m from the Commonwealth bucket.
Mr Ede: You said we were getting $30m more.
Mr FINCH: Why don't you read what was said?
Mr Ede interjecting.
Page 1049
Mr FINCH: You have an awfully strange interpretation of it. That is one issue. Let me take another issue.
Members interjecting.
Mr FINCH: In relation to their repeatedly slinging off at me, if members think I am shattered by it, they can forget it. I am actually flattered by their attention.
If they want to listen for a moment, I will tell them about the transfer of ATSIC funds to the Department of Human Services and Health. The member for Arnhem has a few constituents who have been asking him where their missing federal money has gone. Last week, 5 months into the budgetary period, the Commonwealth agreed to transfer the lousy little bucket. When I say `lousy little bucket', I am referring to the $100m Commonwealth commitment to the whole nation for Aboriginal health. What is the Territory share? It is $10m! That means that 10% of the national bucket has been allocated to provide for something like 20% of the Aboriginals in this country. They are being short-changed even on a per capita basis. If the member is talking with ATSIC people and people in the bush, he will know that that is the truth. Not only does the federal government ignore the delivery difficulties for Aboriginal people in the bush, but it ignores also their challenging health problems - problems that are a little greater than those of urban Aboriginals in Sydney or Melbourne. Sydney or Melbourne Aboriginals receive more than their fair share on a per capita basis. Where are Territory Aboriginals left by this socialist government? They are being ignored. They are being short-changed. Those are some of the issues that I want to take up with the federal minister. I am sure that members opposite will not have bothered to speak out about these matters.
During Breast Cancer Week recently, the member for Fannie Bay was briefed on our mammography and breast cancer services. Did she learn how costly it is to provide services to Territory women in remote locations? How is the Commonwealth funding for breast cancer programs calculated? It is done on a per capita basis. Territory women are being short-changed. That is not to mention some of the other special health programs that the Commonwealth comes up with. Territorians are funded on a per capita basis. It does not matter that the program has to be delivered at Numbulwar, Maningrida or Papunya. Per capita funding is considered all right for Territorians because we have only one vote in the House of Representatives. The federal government keeps its socialist policies ...
Mr Ede: Because our Minister for Health Services is a joke.
Mr FINCH: Those are some of the issues, among many others, that I wanted to take up with the federal minister.
There has been a note of frustration in my answer this morning. I find it absolutely preposterous that a woman has discharged not only one nurse from her community, but also a second nurse. The latter occurrence has not been mentioned in the newspapers. Probably, Alison Anderson is a little shy about it. The woman harangued the replacement nurse and her husband, whom we sent to Papunya, to the extent that they left the community. That is the type of person to whom the federal minister is prepared to grant an audience, not only once but
Page 1050
again in Canberra the other week. I am a little frustrated, but I will not leave it at that. I am not sure how long Carmen will be in the job ...
Mr Ede: Longer than you.
Mr Stone: Would you like to put money on it?
Mr FINCH: The Chief Minister has offered to put a carton on it. I am really pleased to hear that. I thank members for their intervention in support of my ministerial career.
Page 1051
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016