00:00Senate debate continued into Monday night on the Children's Life Fund Amendment Bill.
00:07Opposition Senator Foster Cummings urged government to reconsider giving the health minister additional powers.
00:14An applicant need not approach the Children's Life Fund and may go directly to the minister because it's not spelled out.
00:25All it says is that the minister has to be satisfied that it is in the public interest and that for some reason the board is unable to meet.
00:40This can have the effect, Mr. President, of people intentionally bypassing the stated process in the original act and going directly to the minister.
00:54In her wind-up, the parliamentary secretary did not budge from the government's position.
01:01It is not a clause inserted that gives absolute power to the minister of health.
01:07It is a clause whereby he will seek counsel with relevant consultants and specialists and then come back.
01:18It is a clause that can be questioned, that can be appealed.
01:25The bill then went to the Committee of the Whole where the proposed amendment to have a tribunal consider refused life fund proposals
01:32instead of the minister was further given consideration.
01:36The mischief that we want to cure by our proposal is the grant of approval in exceptional or urgent circumstances.
01:49So we're looking at speed, but we're also looking at practicality.
01:54And while we have seen your amendment, we feel with the greatest respect that the setting up of a tribunal
02:04and the setting up of an exceptional, an emergency and exceptional cases committee may in a very,
02:14with great respect, be a bit too bureaucratic and slow in the circumstances.
02:20Independent Senator Darug Timal, however, stood by his proposal.
02:25We are dealing with public funds and we are dealing with highly emotive issues here.
02:33And we may think that a tribunal, a peace tribunal and emergency response committee may be an added layer of bureaucracy,
02:43but it is not as bureaucratic, I think, in terms of what I'm proposing,
02:51because the emergency committee could be convened within 48 hours.
02:55The committee then considered the suggestion that the term life-limiting illness be changed to life-limiting condition.
03:03What we have been advised by the technocrats in the Ministry of Health
03:06is that the best thing to do is to keep the schedules free.
03:13These are the diseases and schedules free.
03:16However, so in other words, you don't have the life unit trying to decipher a huge definition every time it looks at an application,
03:25because that's just asking for judicial review.
03:28They agreed to change the title of the schedule to life-limiting illness or condition,
03:34but the listed 17 pages of conditions remained.
03:38And as it relates to the inclusion of local practitioners as providers of health services,
03:43there seemed to be some progress.
03:45Let's just say by medical specialists from an institution, and simple as best, you know.
03:52Yeah, medical specialists could be from anywhere. That was my original thought.
03:55And I think we can go along with that. We can discuss it and go along with that.
03:58Simple is better. Simple is better.
04:01But after several queries and a short break, there was no breakthrough.
04:05We are prepared at this point to go ahead with the amendment as we have cast.
04:11And again, we would, the Minister of Health would consider your suggestions
04:16and the other suggestions you've made, which is another way of saying,
04:21let's move along with what we have here and take the vote on it.
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