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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 12 Hansard (13 November) . . Page.. 4147 ..

Mrs Carnell: This was a joke.

MR BERRY: Mr Speaker, Mrs Carnell says that the Assembly's decision to form this committee was a joke. That is a reflection on the Assembly's decision, and I think she ought to withdraw it.

Mrs Carnell: Would you like to ask me to prove it, because I am happy to?

MR BERRY: What?

Mrs Carnell: That you had preconceived ideas before you went into the deal.

MR BERRY: You have been found out. This was a dud decision which is going to impact on businesses in the ACT which you did not consult before you made the decision. This is the open and consultative Government at work here. Businesses in the ACT are going to be badly affected by this decision. This all comes from a Government that claims it has connections with business and cares about business. I am sure those businesses that have been badly done by as a result of the approach taken by the Government in this case would not agree.

The committee accepts that the process by which the preferred proponent was selected was an open and public tender process. This occurred, however, after the decision of the Government to proceed had been made. The committee's view was that the decision to proceed with the new private hospital was an ideological one made without open consultation with the parties who might be affected, including the general Canberra community.

Mrs Carnell: We put it out to tender.

MR BERRY: Mrs Carnell interjects again and shows her utter ignorance of the proper requirements of consultation. If you are going to consult properly, you consult at the contemplative stage, not after you have made up your mind. The committee, in its observations on this issue, said:

The Government did not properly consult interested persons or organisations concerning the need for, and nature of, additional beds. The Committee finds it astonishing that, in particular, neither Calvary Hospital nor JJMH -

John James Memorial Hospital -

were consulted.

That is an extremely serious position for those hospitals, which have invested millions of dollars in infrastructure to operate the businesses they operate in the ACT. I do not have the reputation of being a strong ally of the private hospital system, but I do recognise when something wrong has been done. I recognise fully and understand and accept

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