Mr WOOD - 2006-03-28
There have been many reports about the ambulance service in the Northern Territory. So far, your government - a government which believes in openness and transparency - has chosen to release none. Last year, you reviewed the ambulance service. Will you release this review? If not, why not?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. I believe what Territorians care about in this is that they get a sustainable, safe and enhanced service into the future. That is exactly what we are developing at the moment.
Since the ambulance reform was decided by government, we have put in place almost all of the reform elements to building that service up to a sufficient level. St John, the union and the paramedics are in negotiation about an EBA agreement as we speak. As we said during the announcement of the reform package, we will underwrite the outcome of that negotiation.
What we will have achieved is that you will have good wages and conditions for ambulance officers, and additional money going in annually into the service to renew and upgrade equipment …
Mr WOOD: A point of order, Madam Speaker! My question was, simply, would the government please release the review; if not, why not?
Mr Kiely: What is your point of order?
Mr WOOD: It is irrelevant to the question.
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order. The minister is answering the question. Please continue minister.
Dr TOYNE: I believe members are interested to hear a progress report on this, so I will persevere, even though the answer to your question is no.
We have additional ambulance crews going into place in Katherine, Darwin and Alice Springs, and an additional ambulance vehicle in Darwin. All of that is good news for Territorians who depend on those services.
We will continue to work with St John through the finance and operational advisory group to ensure this reform is successfully completed and we can move on into the future with a very reliable and good service.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. I believe what Territorians care about in this is that they get a sustainable, safe and enhanced service into the future. That is exactly what we are developing at the moment.
Since the ambulance reform was decided by government, we have put in place almost all of the reform elements to building that service up to a sufficient level. St John, the union and the paramedics are in negotiation about an EBA agreement as we speak. As we said during the announcement of the reform package, we will underwrite the outcome of that negotiation.
What we will have achieved is that you will have good wages and conditions for ambulance officers, and additional money going in annually into the service to renew and upgrade equipment …
Mr WOOD: A point of order, Madam Speaker! My question was, simply, would the government please release the review; if not, why not?
Mr Kiely: What is your point of order?
Mr WOOD: It is irrelevant to the question.
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order. The minister is answering the question. Please continue minister.
Dr TOYNE: I believe members are interested to hear a progress report on this, so I will persevere, even though the answer to your question is no.
We have additional ambulance crews going into place in Katherine, Darwin and Alice Springs, and an additional ambulance vehicle in Darwin. All of that is good news for Territorians who depend on those services.
We will continue to work with St John through the finance and operational advisory group to ensure this reform is successfully completed and we can move on into the future with a very reliable and good service.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016