Page 3253 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 21 August 2019
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Mrs Dunne: Madam Speaker, I took a point of order, and it is up to anyone in this place at any time to take a point of order. What Mr Ramsay has said—and he confirmed what he said—is an imputation on Mr Parton and it should be withdrawn.
MADAM SPEAKER: I do not believe so, Mrs Dunne.
Canberra Hospital—master plan
MR PARTON: My question is to the Minister for Health. Minister, I refer to reports in the media of 14 August of a tender for a master planning process for the Canberra Hospital campus which will not finish until late next year. Minister, will the master plan be completed before the government selects a tender to build SPIRE?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Mr Parton for the question. Yes, the ACT Health Directorate has commenced work on a Canberra Hospital master plan. SAFM Solutions has been contracted to carry out the first phase of the master planning project, which will take place in two phases. The first phase will include a comprehensive review of all previous planning documentation, utilising this existing information, and also set out the visions and principles that will underpin the master plan. The second phase of the project will be undertaking the development of the actual master plan, which at this stage is expected to be finalised in late 2020.
The master plan will help to structure future infrastructure at the campus. It complements the work that is already underway looking at the expansion of hospital services on the north side and also the planning for the SPIRE project. It takes into account the fact that planning for a number of major infrastructure projects at the hospital campus is already underway, including the SPIRE project and the expansion of the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children. As a result of these projects it was considered that there was a need to look at the bigger picture for health infrastructure across the campus.
Taking that time frame into account, to come specifically to Mr Parton’s question, I do not expect that the master plan will be finalised before tenders are entered into in relation to the development of SPIRE. The master plan will take into account the planning for SPIRE, which is well underway.
MR PARTON: Minister, when will you turn the first sod for construction on SPIRE?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Mr Parton for the question but I do not think that anyone in this Assembly could expect that I could provide a level of specificity about what date the first sod is going to be turned on any project.
MRS DUNNE: Minister, why didn’t the government develop a master plan to refurbish the Canberra Hospital campus some years ago, before it started work on individual projects?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Mrs Dunne for the supplementary question. As I mentioned earlier, the first phase of the master planning process will include a
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