Page 2731 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 13 August 2019
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We have some recognition now that there has been a misunderstanding, and the health minister and the Health Directorate need to learn from that and get on with the job. I note that the minister and the officials are very keen to emphasise that the hydrotherapy pool at the hospital will be closing sooner rather than later. That is the emphasis, and the emphasis is clearly in here. On page 5 of her statement the minister says that the pool will be made operational for a further time-limited period. No-one has the courage to say what that is, and the minister needs to come clean with the community very quickly.
Four activities are highlighted in this report, and the most important one is the fourth recommendation. The ACT community cannot wait for the government to get into election mode or the next budget mode before there is an answer to recommendation 4. I have previously described the limitations of the Nous report, which in many ways was disappointing and did not live up to the commitment made in this place by the previous minister. A lot of stuff is missing that we expected to see in it. But the clear message is that there is a strong need for ongoing hydrotherapy services on the south side of Canberra which cannot be met by the current arrangements.
At the same time, it is quite clear that ACT Health is trying to cobble together some sort of alternative process of bussing people from place to place to meet their hydrotherapy needs. That will not be sufficient. I support the original intent of the motion moved in May, and supported by the government, that the hospital hydrotherapy pool remain open until there is another fit-for-purpose hydrotherapy facility on the south side of Canberra. The government needs to accelerate the work it is doing to ensure that that is the case.
There are people in the non-government who are prepared to work with the government on this, and the minister and the government have to be very responsive to that. But even if they were responsive to it today, a hydrotherapy facility would not be built in Canberra in the next 12 months. The planning process and everything associated with that would take at last 12 months, in the most optimistic environment with the most committed work plan. This government therefore needs to extend the contract for Arthritis ACT beyond September for at least a year. They need to be given that certainty.
The minister is shaking her head, indicating that she does not intend to do that. The minister needs to come clean. There will be an opportunity for her, tomorrow, to tell the community when she proposes to close the hydrotherapy pool. The result of the Nous report and this statement today is that there is as much uncertainty as there was before May. The minister again shakes her head; she is not in agreement.
The minister does not intend to keep the hydrotherapy pool open until there is a new hydrotherapy pool. She can have this argument over and over again, but the Canberra Liberals will not draw back from our commitment to keeping the Canberra Hospital pool open until a new facility is built on the south side. Get used to it, minister—find a solution and find it now.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
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