Page 4356 - Week 12 - Thursday, 24 October 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
The development of a new emergency department that will have 114 treatment spaces when SPIRE is completed, along with the expansion of Calvary, means that we will have expanded emergency department treatment spaces by 50 per cent across the ACT in the space of five years. That provides us with an opportunity to redesign our ED in the most up-to-date way to ensure that patients get the absolute best treatment, including while waiting for treatment. All of this will be done with very close engagement with both clinicians and consumers and will be based on the best expert advice.
MRS DUNNE: Minister, why are we still in the very early stages of planning? Considering that this was a policy commitment that you took to the 2016 election, why is it the case that you have not got the planning underway?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: That was not what I said, so I thank Mrs Dunne for the question but also for verballing me. What I said was “an early stage of detailed design”. There has been a lot of planning to get to this point, including the consultation with clinicians and the technical work that was undertaken to determine the proposed SPIRE site that is currently being worked on. There is a lot of work underway. Ms Cheyne asked about the work with the sexual health centre, and there has also been work with the child at risk health unit on where they will be decanted to. There is work currently underway to build the modular buildings for the relocation of the administrative services that are currently located in building 24. The Chief Minister and I, as I have said, were at an industry briefing that represents the first stage of the main works procurement process, which will get underway with an expression of interest in the next few weeks.
So, Mrs Dunne’s characterisation of where we are at is completely false and, many times today, in addition to “early stages of detailed design”, I have said that substantial progress has also been made in developing the project. We will have more say about that in the next few weeks.
Planning—infrastructure plan
MS CHEYNE: My question is to the Minister for Planning and Land Management. Minister, how is good planning helping to deliver the infrastructure needs for our growing city?
MR GENTLEMAN: I thank Ms Cheyne for her question and her interest in planning for the future of Canberra. I commend the Chief Minister on the release of the ACT infrastructure plan. It demonstrates this government’s long-term planning for Canberra’s future and supports the aims of the ACT planning strategy. I would like to take this opportunity to outline how the infrastructure plan complements the work being done in my portfolios.
As the city grows, an important focus of our infrastructure planning will be balancing the need for investment in new suburbs and centres with maintaining and upgrading existing assets in more established suburbs. We want to ensure that all Canberrans have access to great city services and reliable utilities.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video