Page 6133 - Week 14 - Thursday, 9 December 2010
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Canberra. Whilst we have seen a lot of money going to the Canberra Hospital—not always wisely, when you look at the doubling of the car park from $29 million to $45 million—we have seen very little investment in Calvary.
Mr Speaker, I could go on and on. I think that when you compare the reality for the person on the ground with the sort of fluff that gets put out today by this mid-term report by the government you will see that the reality for the average Canberran is very different from what has been put out by this government.
MR STANHOPE (Ginninderra—Chief Minister, Minister for Transport, Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Minister for Business and Economic Development, Minister for Land and Property Services, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs and Minister for the Arts and Heritage) (4.19): I am particularly pleased today to have this opportunity to address the Assembly at the midpoint of this term of parliament and to talk to this government’s great record of achievement over the past two years and, indeed, over what is now nearly the past 10 years.
A good government, of course, never rests on its laurels; it seeks to continuously improve on what it does, whether that be in the area of delivery of essential services or protecting the vulnerable or communicating with the people it serves. This afternoon, as has been mentioned, I have had great pleasure in releasing a mid-term report which sets out the achievements of this government over the last two years and gives a taste of the work that we have committed to during 2011 and beyond.
The past two years have been challenging ones in many respects as our city, in common with the rest of the country, has emerged from the global financial crisis, and we have emerged well. We have emerged well with our AAA credit rating intact, with more jobs created, with business confidence improving and with strong prospects for growth. In each of the areas Canberrans tell us are crucial to their quality of life, we continue to deliver in spades and with strong support from the community.
Quality health care is, of course, central to the quality of life of any community, large or small. Labor has invested massively in the future of the ACT’s healthcare system, and never more so than in the past two years, during which we have embarked on an ambitious billion-dollar capital program to prepare our health system for demands of the future. But this is not just about more beds and more operating theatres, though it is relevant and pertinent to note that we started by reopening the 114 beds which the Liberal government had closed. Our commitment is commitment that touches the total health system. It involves new models of care, better use of technology, different ways of providing care, and workforce development.
Notable achievements over the past two years include two additional operating theatres at the Canberra Hospital, providing greater capacity to deliver emergency and elective surgeries to more Canberrans; 40 additional beds at the Canberra Hospital, with another three on the way; a new six-bed mental health assessment unit, improving the assessment and treatment of Canberrans in need of swift intervention; the ACT’s first nurse-led walk-in centre at the Canberra Hospital; a 16-bed critical care unit at Calvary Hospital, boosting the capacity for critical care on the north side of the city; a new state-of-the art neurosurgery suite at the Canberra Hospital; and
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