Ms MARTIN - 1995-10-18
Next Monday, 23 October, is National Breast Cancer Day. Prior to the 1994 election, the Country Liberal Party promised the women of the Territory that it would introduce a breast screening program in Katherine by the end of 1994 and in Alice Springs by the start of 1995. Is it a fact that the government has reneged on this promise to Katherine women and is now proposing yet another bus-led policy by planning to bus Katherine women requiring breast screening tests to Darwin?
Mr Speaker, I seek leave to table the CLP's election policy document.
Leave granted.
Ms MARTIN: Further, is it also a fact that the equipment required to establish a breast screening centre in Alice Springs remains in Adelaide because there is no place to house it in Alice Springs?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, this is an excellent question. I could not have written it better myself. The Territory's CLP government does meet its commitments. In the case of the breast screening proposal for Alice Springs, staff have been recruited and the equipment has been ordered. There has been a hiccup over space to accommodate that, which I understand ...
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Mr Bailey: Ten months later.
Mr Ede: What is the date, Fred?
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr FINCH: The member must have been reading my mail! I understand that the difficulty with allocating space for the facility in Alice Springs will be resolved within days. The equipment will be set up expeditiously and will be operational. Proposals to service not only Katherine but also Tennant Creek are being examined. If the member knows anything about mammography ...
Ms Martin: You promised it would be available in Katherine 12 months ago.
Mr FINCH: All right - squawk, squawk, squawk!
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Ms Martin: No, you promised it would be available 12 months ago.
Mr FINCH: Squawk, squawk, squawk!
Ms Martin: I am not squawking.
Mr FINCH: You are squawking.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr FINCH: People listening to Question Time on the radio can hear you squawking.
Ms Martin: A broken promise.
Mr Bailey: Broken promises - that is what it is about.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr FINCH: Both Tennant Creek and Katherine will be serviced and serviced well. The service will not be provided through a bus trip but, and more appropriately, by means of a mobile unit. As for Darwin, we intend to visit the Darwin unit on Monday, a most appropriate day for such a visit.
Ms Martin: I will see you there.
Mr FINCH: I thank the member for her most welcome and encouraging question.
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Mr Speaker, I seek leave to table the CLP's election policy document.
Leave granted.
Ms MARTIN: Further, is it also a fact that the equipment required to establish a breast screening centre in Alice Springs remains in Adelaide because there is no place to house it in Alice Springs?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, this is an excellent question. I could not have written it better myself. The Territory's CLP government does meet its commitments. In the case of the breast screening proposal for Alice Springs, staff have been recruited and the equipment has been ordered. There has been a hiccup over space to accommodate that, which I understand ...
Page 910
Mr Bailey: Ten months later.
Mr Ede: What is the date, Fred?
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr FINCH: The member must have been reading my mail! I understand that the difficulty with allocating space for the facility in Alice Springs will be resolved within days. The equipment will be set up expeditiously and will be operational. Proposals to service not only Katherine but also Tennant Creek are being examined. If the member knows anything about mammography ...
Ms Martin: You promised it would be available in Katherine 12 months ago.
Mr FINCH: All right - squawk, squawk, squawk!
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Ms Martin: No, you promised it would be available 12 months ago.
Mr FINCH: Squawk, squawk, squawk!
Ms Martin: I am not squawking.
Mr FINCH: You are squawking.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr FINCH: People listening to Question Time on the radio can hear you squawking.
Ms Martin: A broken promise.
Mr Bailey: Broken promises - that is what it is about.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr FINCH: Both Tennant Creek and Katherine will be serviced and serviced well. The service will not be provided through a bus trip but, and more appropriately, by means of a mobile unit. As for Darwin, we intend to visit the Darwin unit on Monday, a most appropriate day for such a visit.
Ms Martin: I will see you there.
Mr FINCH: I thank the member for her most welcome and encouraging question.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016