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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 9 Hansard (2 September) . . Page.. 2808 ..

MR MOORE: Mr Wood says, "Perhaps you should have done all that". We did. Let us put this into perspective. I was very pleased with the meeting I had with the Hospice and Palliative Care Society. Mr Dyer, the chief executive of Calvary Hospital, was there. When the same sort of question was raised by them, Mr Dyer said, "Wait on. You ought to realise that Mr Moore and I have discussed almost monthly for a year where the best sites are". Let us remember that he was working within the context that the Liberal Party - no, that is not the full Government - had gone to a previous election saying that the hospice, if relocated, should be co-located with Calvary Hospital. That was two elections ago, and they have been to an election without that promise in the interim. If that had not been said, the Liberal Party would not have the majority of seats in this Assembly. I discussed with them that point of view, I discussed it with Mr Dyer and I discussed possible sites, and we came up with a very sensible range of sites. The department came up with those and put them to me. They included the sites around Calvary and the site at Yarramundi Reach. When they were put to me I said, "Do not do any further investigation of Yarramundi Reach". On the surface of it we can see that it is not worth doing any more investigation. It has just too many problems.

Recently somebody put to me the site at Attunga Point next to the Canberra Yacht Club. I said, "Yes, they had a very quick look at it but I know there is no public transport there and we really do not want to go into that in much more detail". I have looked at it and realise that it does not have a good frontage but a steep one. There are also other issues about services. I said, "Do not do any further investigation into it". A lot of these sites we can eliminate without spending large sums of money doing it. Even today people have suggested a couple of further sites to me.

We have taken it seriously and I have taken the motion of this Assembly seriously. I am looking at sites on Lake Burley Griffin. I am trying to get ones that are viable. I am talking to the National Capital Authority about that. I have personally spoken to the National Capital Authority a couple of times in the last week after the motion. One was a social occasion I mentioned last week and one was earlier this week. I have also asked my departmental officer who is dealing with this to do the same. We are pursuing it very carefully.

Following that meeting I have had a letter from Calvary Hospital which, amongst other things, says that the views expressed in the letter include those of the management of both the Calvary Hospital and the ACT Hospice. The thrust of the letter is that they would like me to continue pursuing a site on Lake Burley Griffin. If there is a chance that a site will go through the relevant planning processes, then they are prepared to wait some extra time, and they are prepared to allow the hospice to move into the Canberra Hospital during that time. I hope that is acceptable to members.

Mr Berry: No, not to me.

MR MOORE: Mr Berry shakes his head and says no. I am sure Mr Stanhope has a different view. The Hospice and Palliative Care Society agree with this view. That gives me more time. I will try to avoid that, but they recognise that that is the sort of choice they are making - a short-term problem for a long-term benefit.

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