Page 2626 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 10 August 2016
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Following the announcement I was also pleased to receive congratulations from Robin Poke, president of the ACT Olympic Council, who played a major role in creating and then developing the ACT sports awards back in 1984. He noted that “it makes eminent sense to combine the two” and said, “I congratulate you on a great outcome.”
Additionally, many sporting bodies and athletes in Canberra took to social media to share their excitement about the new awards, including Cricket ACT, Special Olympics Australia, Volleyball ACT, Netball ACT, CBR Brave and Triathlon ACT.
Nominations for the CBR sport awards open this Friday, 12 August and the awards will take place on Friday, 9 December. The CBR sport awards night promises to be a fantastic celebration of our city’s proud sporting culture, its champions and quiet achievers and the passion Canberrans bring as players and supporters to their favourite sports.
Canberra Hospital—infrastructure planning
MS LAWDER: My question is to the Minister for Health. In June, minister, you said in relation to the Canberra Hospital that “the assessment is that over the next five to 10 years’ utilisation of the existing infrastructure, with a modest level of improvement, will actually give us the capacity we need to meet demand over that period.” Minister, why will a modest level of improvement give the Canberra Hospital capacity to meet demand over the next five to 10 years when the statistics show that the hospital is not able to meet demand now?
MR CORBELL: I thank Ms Lawder for the question. There is this thing called “bed utilisation”. The facts are that other public hospital systems deliver a better level of bed utilisation—that is, more people utilising the same amount of bed stock—than we achieve in our public hospital system. We have to turn that around and we have to change that because that means getting better value for money for the taxpayer with the money that is being spent now in our public hospital system.
What we have from those opposite is that they are walking away from a more efficient public hospital system. They are walking away from any commitment around reform of how services are delivered so that more people get access sooner. Instead, they are trying to do the cash splash and spend $400 million on a project that delivers a net gain of 30 hospital beds. By comparison, we are delivering a net gain of 50 public hospital beds through better utilisation of existing infrastructure.
Those opposite cannot any longer criticise this government on the cost of running the public health system when they walk away from any interest in efficiency or bed utilisation. That is the difference between this side and the other side of this chamber: $400 million for 30 extra beds or the equivalent of 50 extra beds through more efficiency in our public hospital system and more people getting treatment sooner through smarter use of the resources we have already made an investment in.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Ms Lawder.
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