Federal ALP ad dealing with Osborne Park hospital scaremongering

16/6/95

Health Minister Graham Kierath has accused ALP Federal candidate Kareen Carberry of scaremongering prior to a public forum on Osborne Park Hospital.

Mr Kierath said an advertisement for the forum gave the quite false impression that health services at the hospital would be privatised.

He said contrary to the impression given in a newspaper article, public health services at hospitals like Osborne Park were not going to be privatised.

"Innaloo residents should be wary of this blatant political scaremongering by an ALP party hopeful," Mr Kierath said.

"There is no way that public health services at the hospital are being privatised, no way costs will go up and no way the quality of services will decline.

"Whenever we want to provide more money for actual health services by making savings in other work areas, the ALP and the unions are pushing the lie that the Government would tolerate a fall in the quality of health services.

"All we are doing at Osborne Park Hospital is considering potential savings from hospital engineering, cleaning, security and grounds maintenance.

"It is our responsibility to get the best possible value from funds provided for hospitals, and to maintain or improve the already high quality of services.

"If the private sector can help us to save taxpayers' money in non core areas, enabling us to provide more and better health services, what on earth is wrong with that?

"This so-called 'public forum' is nothing more than a political stunt to frighten people about the Government's commitment to making public services as efficient as possible."