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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 5 Hansard (13 May) . . Page.. 1291 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

Contracts of this sort do need to be commercial-in-confidence simply because HCOA obviously are in negotiations with other governments and other entities. Hopefully, we have negotiated a very good deal with HCOA. We believe we have, Mr Speaker. I have outlined the basis of that deal. I have guaranteed to this Assembly that there is no public money involved. The $2.1m up front, Mr Speaker, is the money that the ACT Government will get. People know where the land is. The planning process is transparent, Mr Speaker. The actual make-up of who will be in the hospital has not been determined at this stage. I do not know what else anyone could want to know.

MR WOOD: I have a supplementary question, Mr Speaker. I am not sure that the Government, this Assembly or the people of Canberra will be too concerned about other jurisdictions. This affects the ACT. I draw the Chief Minister's attention to an answer she endeavoured to give earlier when she placed great stress on her openness, her consultation and, she claimed, detail in informing the community. On that basis, Chief Minister, why will you not reveal these details? Why the secrecy? You are not being consistent here.

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, if they are going to have a series of questions because they think it is a good idea, they really should rewrite them between questions when I have already answered them. I will just run through it: No public money; the amount of money up front; where the hospital is - - -

Mr Berry: Why will you not table the contract? That was the question.

MR SPEAKER: Mr Berry, if you continue to interject, even if the Chief Minister does table it, you may not be here to read it.

Mr Berry: May I raise a point of order, then, Mr Speaker?

MR SPEAKER: No, you cannot at this point. You will have a chance to table that later.

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, the company involved, HCOA, is keen that this contract remain commercial-in-confidence. I have to say, Mr Speaker, that I was keen to be able to have the contract tabled because I assumed those opposite would go down this path. But, if we are going to do commercial deals with companies that are interested in investing $20m involving 230 construction jobs in this city, I think we have to be willing to operate in a businesslike fashion. Mr Speaker, I fully agree that when there is public money involved in a contract the contract needs to be made public; but in this situation there is no public money involved. In fact, they are paying us. The public interest is that we will have 100 extra hospital beds in this city.

Mr Berry: That nobody wants.

MRS CARNELL: If nobody wants them nobody will use them.

Mr Corbell: There is no demand for them. People do not do things on demand.

MR SPEAKER: Order!

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