Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

No, he was not talking to her at the time. You look at the nature of this letter and you wonder what this whole thing was really about.

One of the issues that are very pertinent is the fact that in New South Wales we currently have eight area health services, each with its own structure and its own employees—particularly in rural and regional areas. I know that Senator Williams is particularly interested in this issue. All of a sudden at the COAG hearing last week we had the secretary of the department telling us that the area health services in New South Wales are going to be abolished. I think that is news to the officials in New South Wales. It is probably news, Senator Williams, to all those thousands of people who are working in those bureaucracies.