Page 4529 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 26 November 2019
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works are being planned in close consultation with Canberra Health Services. Demolition of buildings 5 and 24 is currently due to occur in late 2020.
Alternative locations have been identified for the administrative and training services currently housed in these buildings, and for the child at risk health unit. The Canberra Sexual Health Centre will be relocated to new facilities to be constructed on the site of the existing building 8. Preparatory works have commenced on the construction of the first modular building, which will house the Canberra Health Services staff currently located in building 24. The new areas for those functions that need to be relocated are being designed to meet the functional requirements of the users and the community. The relocation of staff and services from within buildings 5 and 24 will be staged throughout 2020.
Regarding milestones delivered to date, members will be aware that SPIRE was one of the government’s most significant commitments at the 2016 election. Since the election, the government has undertaken a needs analysis, proof of concept design and a business case. The government has established a delivery team, commenced early works, conducted an industry briefing and now is in the procurement phase for the project. The time frames I have noted today remain consistent with the government’s announcement in May this year. I am happy to report that very significant progress has been made and is being made on this very important project.
Madam Speaker, the SPIRE project received $13 million of capital in the 2018-19 budget to progress early stages of design and a further $53.7 million in capital funding in the 2019-20 budget. In 2019-20, the allocation for the outyears is shown as not for publication. This is prudent, and standard practice for large capital projects, in order to ensure value for money when the government approaches the market.
The 2019-20 budget includes infrastructure provisions of $1.2 billion over the four years to 2022-23. These provisions provide funding for major capital works projects, including SPIRE, which are commercially sensitive. As the procurement process progresses, specifics on the financial details of the SPIRE project will be updated in the budget papers. What we can say now is what we have repeatedly said, that this project is expected to cost more than half a billion dollars, making it the single biggest investment in health infrastructure since self-government.
The intensive care unit at Canberra Hospital fulfils a critical role, serving not just Canberra but also the entire south-east region of New South Wales. Design work is currently underway to provide an extra eight intensive care beds to help cater for the increasing demand for critical care at Canberra Hospital. In the longer term, the new facility delivered by the SPIRE project will expand ICU capacity significantly. In the meantime, the current project will provide extra capacity before SPIRE comes online.
The project is being funded through an intergovernmental agreement between the territory and commonwealth governments. The commonwealth is providing the ACT with $13.5 million for the project. This funding is certainly welcomed. Unfortunately the commonwealth has programmed the payment of the $13.5 million in 2022-23 and 2023-24, which is at least 12 months after funding will actually be
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