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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 08 Hansard (Tuesday, 3 August 2004) . . Page.. 3358 ..

will come after that. People will look at this press release to say that the government is determined to stay ahead of the game. But no, it is not true.

MR QUINLAN (Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Business and Tourism, Minister for Sport, Racing and Gaming, and Acting Minister for Planning) (4.35): You will have to forgive me because I am only acting in the planning job, so I am acting under advice here. I am advised that the process of the establishment of places through to actual occupancy does have quite a substantial gestation period. I am advised that it is probable that, even if the system were working, about 200 beds would be in the pipeline at any given time.

One of the first questions that needs to be answered—I will certainly be doing the homework on it—is this: what was in the pipeline in October 2001 when we came to government? For all the rant and the childish presentation of Mr Smyth, he has not claimed, “We were doing this and you stopped it.”

Given that there is a considerable gestation period between the establishment of places, the planning, the building, the establishment of the facility and bringing it into operation, I would expect to hear the opposition tell us all the projects that it had in the pipeline that we held up. That will be my first piece of homework. I will be doing that.

The government has established a land bank of aged care facilities. The first of the land bank sales will be section 87 Belconnen. It is to be advertised this week. Three other sites located in Gordon, Nicholls and Greenway have been identified in the government’s land release strategy. They will be ready for release in 2005-06. These four sites are estimated to accommodate a minimum of 400 aged care beds and 600 independent living units.

The government has approved the direct sale—some subject to meeting planning issues—of blocks in Garran, Bruce, Monash, Page, Weston and Hughes, which are planned to house, when complete, 356 aged care beds and 265 independent living units. Some of these beds are yet to receive Commonwealth funding.

These total developments could provide more than 750 high and low care beds and 850 independent living units. These figures do not include plans by service providers to increase the numbers of beds or independent living units on their own land. The Land Development Agency is presently in discussion with aged care providers for further direct sales. And on it goes.

The Commonwealth has announced that it intends to provide funding for 370 provisional allocations over the next three years. Simple arithmetic would tell you that the land available is far in excess of the announced bed allocations. That is why we will continue to work with the Commonwealth to increase the number of bed allocations to allow every person in Canberra who needs aged care to be able to access it.

Financial assistance given to service providers by this government has been substantial. The concessions on land valuation provided to the Weston, Bruce and Garran sites total more than $3.8 million. Proposed land grants to Monash and Hughes will make the figure substantially higher—et cetera, et cetera.

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