Page 2786 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 14 August 1991
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keeping that hospital open. Now, when you are in government and are aware that there are very similar costs required to provide option 4 from your feasibility study - a general medical surgical hospital on that site - why is it that you have done this turnaround without any real reason?
MR BERRY: The question requires a fairly detailed answer.
Mr Collaery: Do not try to beat yesterday's record, Wayne.
MR BERRY: If members want orchestrated questions for the consumption of the media, they ought to have planned it better. Mr Moore's question is not orchestrated in any way and it requires an answer. Mr Moore rightly referred to Labor's commitment to retain a health facility on that site. Labor is committed to that statement and it will do so. It is also true, without having the Hansard in front of me, to say that I supported the Bill to prevent the Royal Canberra Hospital from closing; but that was a long time ago. It is also true that Mr Humphries talked about $8.5m in recurrent savings for his project - - -
Mr Humphries: Based on your steering committee.
MR BERRY: Based on the steering committee report, which I commissioned. It is also true that it would cost something like forty and some odd million dollars more for Labor's plan then than for the plan that the then Government chose, the $154m plan, for their redevelopment project. It is furthermore true that the add-ons that the Government had commenced in relation to the abandoned Royal Canberra Hospital could have added up to costs of any amount, but as much as $200m in 1989 terms. So, we then had a situation where the Alliance Government fast-tracked its redevelopment project with the publicly stated view of getting it out of the road before the next election.
Mr Kaine: You said that, not us.
MR BERRY: No, no. It is a publicly stated view. In fact, a board member said that that was the design of the project. If anybody ought to know what is going on in the hospital system, it is a board member. We know that the Minister did not, because he could not contain the budget blow-outs; but the board member - - -
Mr Kaine: Neither could you.
MR BERRY: The Minister could not.
Mr Collaery: Mr Speaker, I take a point of order. We are all going to miss out if this continues, aren't we, Mr Speaker. I ask that he be concise and to the point.
MR SPEAKER: The Chief Minister will probably allow extra time for question time today.
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