Page 1590 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 2 June 2021
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MS CHEYNE: Again, this is not the ACT’s responsibility; it is the commonwealth’s responsibility, but we do have good relationships with officials in the commonwealth government. In terms of possible expansion of the operation, it is simply not our jurisdiction to regulate air space, but we have arranged for an understanding whereby commonwealth officials will inform ACT officials if Wing is intending to expand its delivery locations. I am aware that there has been some media attention given to the possible expansion of Wing, expanding its delivery locations, but certainly I have not and nor has the ACT government as far as I am aware—including as recently as today been advised that any notification of expanded delivery locations has been given to the commonwealth by Wing. I would also note that my most recent advice—Mr Davis might be interested in this as well—is that Access Canberra has just recorded one complaint in relation to Wing drones in recent months.
Health—maternal and child health clinics
MR HANSON: My question is to the Minister for Health. Minister, when the Weston Creek walk-in centre was opened last year and soon after transformed into a COVID-19 testing centre, the maternal and child health clinic in the same building was closed and not reopened. Now you are opening a maternal and child health clinic in Coombs, claiming that it is new. Minister, will this maternal health walk-in centre differ from the one that you closed in Weston Creek?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: The one in Weston Creek was relocated during the construction of the walk-in centre, and was intended to be moved back into the Weston Creek community health centre. Obviously, that did not happen immediately, because the Weston Creek walk-in centre became a COVID testing site. As we looked at opportunities to deliver better care closer to home right across the ACT community, we determined that a better allocation of resources would be to put the medical into the new medical imaging centre, which has been funded in this budget—the community medical imaging in the Weston Creek community health centre adjacent to the walk-in centre—and to move the MACH services that were going to go back into the Weston Creek community health centre and walk-in centre into Coombs.
We were very clear about that. In fact, when we announced the Coombs walk-in health centre during the election campaign, we said the likelihood would be that it would be for maternal and child health services that were otherwise going to go back into the Weston Creek health centre. We are doing exactly what we said we were going to do.
MR HANSON: When will the final scope of the maternal and child health clinic in Coombs be known, given that it should open on 1 July this year, according to the CMTEDD website?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Mr Hanson for the question. The maternal and child health services are offered via Canberra Health Services; it will be the same type of maternal and child health services. Obviously, we are getting close to having more to say in relation to the range of services that will be available in Coombs; again, we are doing exactly what we said we were going to do. People’s expectations can be that the
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