Page 2432 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 17 June 2009
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indeed. I quote the minister, relating to specific examples of changes that were not made in respect of recommendation 4 of the Reid report:
This Recommendation included proposals for legislative change to achieve the following arrangements that related to Calvary Public Hospital:
It lists four things that could be done. The paragraph goes on to say:
These legislative changes were not made, and ACT Health is not able to exercise these powers as envisaged in the Reid Report.
We have just finished four years of majority Stanhope government. If the one governance model as desired was what the government wanted to achieve, the government had four years to move those legislative changes.
Ms Gallagher: We should have just bulldozed it through, should we?
MR SMYTH: You say there were things that could have been done—“but we didn’t do it”. That leads us back to today: why are we here? We are here simply because the Canberra Times outed the minister in her secret negotiations. (Time expired.)
MS GALLAGHER (Molonglo—Treasurer, Minister for Health, Minister for Community Services and Minister for Women) (11.22): Just for the record, this discussion that we have been having with Little Company of Mary is not ideological. It never has been and I reject those allegations completely.
I have to say that I think the services provided by Little Company of Mary have been first rate. I think they have had a long and proud history in providing health care services to the people of the ACT. I do not like those allegations being made that this is me pursuing an ideological agenda. It never has been and I have always enjoyed a very happy and close working relationship with the Little Company of Mary since I became Minister for Health.
This is about securing an asset for the people of the ACT. Little Company of Mary has a lease to operate a public hospital on that site until 2070. We are not in a position to wait until 2070 to make the level of investment that the ACT community needs and there is an opportunity here where Little Company of Mary, who hold all of the bargaining chips in this discussion because they alone can determine whether or not they are prepared to engage with us or not, have been on this occasion prepared to engage with us in a discussion around potential change in ownership arrangements at the Calvary Public Hospital site.
I think that is an opportunity for discussion that any government would have been negligent to let go without responding to it. All we have done at this point in time is proceed with those discussions. There has been no agreement reached, there have been no deals signed, there have been no documents signed that predetermine this sale and assume the fact that it will go ahead. We are not at that point yet.
In relation to Mr Smyth’s claims that we only know about it because of the Canberra Times article, I can certainly say, and I have said this in my initial speech, that my
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