Page 2655 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 13 August 1991
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The period of the Alliance Government robbed us of the chance to deliver that hospital. We simply do not have the money to hold onto another hospital, now that so much has been committed to closing it. However, the Acton Peninsula provides a wonderful site. Its lakeside setting is ideal for convalescence and treatment for people not requiring acute care support. The fact that there will be a dramatic increase in Canberra's aged population by the year 2000 suggests that this is where our priorities should lie.
The Government has decided that the Acton site should remain in public ownership and be used for public purposes. In particular, during the redevelopment cycle we will locate on the site non-acute public health facilities, including rehabilitation and aged care, convalescent facilities and the Queen Elizabeth II home for mothers and babies.
With the change of health use on the Acton site from acute care, consideration will be given to the additional use of the site for nursing home facilities in the future non-institutionalised use of the site. But we have to consider the Commonwealth guidelines in the process of considering the future of a replacement for Jindalee, and, along with our concerns about providing funds in the current budget, that was a concern of the Government in deferring a decision in relation to Jindalee to some time in the future. It is appropriate that it be considered in the context of the new uses for the Acton site.
These developments will be integrated into our overall planning priorities. Our primary responsibility is the provision of excellent health facilities at a price the community can afford. That is what places us in stark contrast to the Alliance Government. Despite the massive funding commitment by the Alliance to fast-tracking its hospital redevelopment project, it is not well known that the many additional facilities which have been promised are not included in that project and will have to be paid for by additional funding over and above that already committed by the former Government.
The Alliance Government's project includes provision for a birthing centre at Woden Valley Hospital. We applaud that decision and will ensure that the facility is provided, but it was not originally costed as part of the hospital redevelopment.
Mr Humphries: It was never meant to be.
MR BERRY: Mr Humphries says that it was never meant to be. I am glad he has said that, because many of the add-ons that were promised by his Government were not costed, and they sought to keep that from the public view. That is why it needs mentioning in the context of a new approach to the delivery of public hospital services in the Australian Capital Territory.
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