Page 610 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 22 February 2012
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The capital works construction commenced in June 2010. I have visited the new unit. It is essentially physically complete; there are some minor works to be done. It has been delayed due to weather. It has had a couple of issues with some subcontractors on that site that have had to be managed. But again when we have the smiling faces of the opposition attend the opening and they see the quality of the facilities that we are building—alongside facilities like the Gungahlin college, the new Kambah school—the new women’s and children’s unit—
Mr Smyth: Gungahlin Drive, the prison.
MS GALLAGHER: I do not know what the problem is with Gungahlin Drive. That road is working very well. The new psych unit—
Opposition members interjecting—
MS GALLAGHER: It is; I drive on it all the time. The new psych unit is in a league of its own and again will give mental health consumers and their families the opportunity to reside, for the period of their time in an inpatient facility, in the best facilities in the country. That is what we do: we do the planning, we do the scoping, we get the projects right, and they will be there for the long term.
MR SPEAKER: A supplementary, Mr Hanson.
MR HANSON: In the question taken on notice during estimates, as referenced in my earlier question, it states that the facility is meant to be co-located with the secure mental health facility.
Mr Hargreaves: On a point of order, that is a preamble, Mr Speaker, on a supplementary.
MR SPEAKER: It is a preamble, Mr Hanson.
MR HANSON: I will go straight to it then, Mr Speaker.
MR SPEAKER: Frame the question, thank you.
MR HANSON: Minister, why are ACT residents still waiting for the secure mental health facility that the Labor government originally promised in 2005 and subsequently promised would be operational by last year?
MS GALLAGHER: As Mr Hanson well knows, with the decisions around the secure unit, it was funded at about $11 million when it was co-located with the adult acute inpatient unit. When the decision was made to separate those projects, we embarked on another process which took about a year, to identify a suitable block for that facility. That block was identified as being the former site at Quamby. There was some community concern around that site, so we have undertaken further consultations to try and address some of those issues. As part of the model of care planning and the detailed design, the advice to me was that the project was more in the order of $35 million, from memory.
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