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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 5 Hansard (13 May) . . Page.. 1290 ..

MS HORODNY (continuing):

and private bus services. I am sure it is an oversight, Mr Kaine, but could you explain why environment groups such as the Con Council are not included in this advisory group, when there was an environment representative on the earlier committee and the Con Council has written to you on several occasions to request the establishment of such a transport forum? Also, why are there not any representatives of the main public transport users, such as youth and the aged?

MR SPEAKER: Excuse me, Ms Horodny; the Con Council?

MS HORODNY: The Conservation Council.

MR SPEAKER: Thank you.

MR KAINE: I do not know why representatives of those organisations are not on there, but I will take the question on notice and find out whether it was a conscious decision that they not be included or whether there were good reasons. Perhaps they have been omitted in error. I do not know, but I will take the question on notice.

MR WOOD: Mr Speaker, my question is to the Minister for Health. Minister, considering that the agreement between the Government and Health Care of Australia will have ramifications for health care in the ACT well into the future, will you today table that contract, or the agreement, or whatever the documents are, in this Assembly?

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, I cannot table them; they are commercial-in-confidence documents. It is a simple commercial arrangement. I can tell the Assembly the basis of that agreement.

Mr Berry: What if you were directed to? Would you do it?

MRS CARNELL: I still could not. HCOA has agreed to pay $2.1m up front to the Department of Health, which will be paid to the hospital and will be used for public hospital purposes. The site that HCOA will be able to build on is very well known and is on all of the plans involved. There will be no public money at all involved in the building of the HCOA private hospital or anything else.

Mr Speaker, it is probably that simple: No public money; $2.1m up front; everybody knows where the site is. They are planning to start in June and be finished by, I think, middle to late 1998. It is a 100-bed hospital. The plans have not been approved as yet, so they are still going down the path of determining what they are. I think some indicative plans have already been made public. In fact, I know that some indicative plans have already been made public. The sort of care that the private hospital will provide will be towards the intensive care end of treatment that is not provided by private hospitals currently in Canberra; intensive care type of treatment, possibly in the area of cancer - those sorts of areas, Mr Speaker.

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