Page 577 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 24 February 2010
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go ahead. I still believe that—and indeed LCM in their letter to me, and I imagine their letter to other members, indicated—their preferred option would still be the one that we put to the community. However, we acknowledge the reality of the situation—the fact that the archbishop did not support that and was not ever going to support that. In not prolonging that process, I completely understand the decision of the sisters themselves, who I believe have always put the interests of the ACT community at the front of their minds when they are making decisions about how to proceed with it. I think they did that when they agreed with the government to pursue the proposal and I think they did it when it became clear to them that the archbishop would not support any proposal on its way to the Vatican or indeed through the Vatican processes.
I think it is a huge loss for the people of the ACT—that we have been unable to determine the future of our public hospital services; that that choice has been taken away from us—and the fact that the opposition have supported it is an indictment on them and a guilt that they will have to carry for some time.
But we need to move on and we need to work through what the other options available are. As I have said, a third hospital is not the preferred option. Compulsory acquisition is not the preferred option. I did say that in my media comments right from the beginning—
Mrs Dunne: That you were going to look at it anyhow even though you don’t propose to do it.
MS GALLAGHER: I said that options across the spectrum needed to be considered but that it was not the preferred option of the government to pursue that—and it will not. The government have always sought to take the responsible decisions here. We are faced with the need to invest over $200 million on the north side of Canberra. We would like a brand-new public hospital. We would like a brand-new private hospital. Unless we are able to buy the hospital, a private hospital will be unable to be built on that site because LCM Health Care will not have the funds to do it. If we do not buy the hospital, we will need to resume large parts of the hospital which are currently used for private hospital services and we will reduce the capacity of the private health system in the ACT to deliver services—yet again, another bad outcome for the people of north Canberra.
So the status quo cannot remain. LCM Health Care agree that it cannot remain. The government agree that it cannot remain. It is only the Liberals that stand in the way of the significant change that needs to occur. And I must say, in all of the meetings I have been to, I have not heard one idea come out of Mr Hanson’s mouth about what he would do. I do not even think the Liberals have considered it. I do not think those ideas have appeared in the Canberra Times and therefore they are without an idea, because we all know from the way they conduct themselves that the only ideas they have are the ones that they read about in the Canberra Times. Then they think: “Oh, good. There we go.” A lazy opposition: “There’s our story for the day.”
Mr Smyth: Easy lines.
MS GALLAGHER: Well, come up with an idea. Come up with an alternative.
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