Page 2905 - Week 10 - Thursday, 15 August 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Surely there are buildings and facilities on the Acton Peninsula right now, not 1992-93. I hear talk about an interim casino, and I will not go into that. Let us be more humane and talk about an interim hospice. Why could we not have hospice facilities right now? Alternatively, if it could not be in existing facilities on the Acton Peninsula right now, I would like to know about an interim possibility at Calvary Hospital right now. That hospital obviously is interested in the question of the hospice. Has the present Government pursued that matter with Calvary Hospital? Given the commitments of the religious order which has the oversight of Calvary, it would seem likely that a hospice could go ahead there much more quickly than in any other facility. Has that been tried? Have we pursued that matter? I do ask that it be pursued as quickly and as reasonably as possible.
Now I come to Jindalee. Mr Humphries has already made this point. Is this another case of bypassing or ignoring a committee report? Remember the stress on that report. Mr Wood will remember that in particular. Does the present Government consider that Jindalee is appropriately located? Is it? I would like an answer to that. Could a long-stay nursing home, under whatever name, now be better located on the Acton Peninsula under present facilities? If those facilities are about to be run down, as we hear, why not make use of them, now? Why must this be delayed?
Another matter related to the ageing or the retired is the possible RSL retirement village. I have mixed feelings about this. I agree that we should not do anything to damage the foreshores of Lake Ginninderra; and I do hear from the present Government, the ALP Government, that there is thought about an alternative site. Where is that alternative site? It has been now three, four or five years since the original proposal for the RSL retirement village. How much longer do we have to wait? Why delay this?
Mr Wood: They have never accepted an alternative site.
DR KINLOCH: Let us try again, especially as this is an area in which the costs, presumably, would be borne by the RSL and the banks and building societies they would deal with, not by the budget. But the one item here which concerns me most, although I feel very strongly about the hospice, and which affects most people is the convalescent facility. I heard what Mr Berry had to say and, again, clearly, he wants that convalescent facility. Why put it off?
There are several points to be made. An appropriate building is already there on the Acton Peninsula. It could continue to be named the Royal Canberra Hospital or changed to the Royal Canberra Convalescent Hospital. I do not mind if you leave off the word "Royal". That could be done much more quickly than is presently proposed. The second point
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .