Page 4625 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 27 November 2019
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It will be very interesting to hear what the Canberra Liberals have to say about their commitment to SPIRE at the 2020 election. Will they put the entire SPIRE project on hold at the 2020 election? That is going to be the question for the people of Canberra. We are talking about the biggest investment in health infrastructure since self-government: a new surgical, critical care and emergency department facility on which we are consulting with clinicians, the community and consumers to ensure that we deliver the best outcome for the people of Canberra and the local community.
MS LEE: Minister, what is the point in community consultation by the government on traffic flows to and from SPIRE after the government has already decided on its location?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: It is an interesting question, because there are in fact a number of options in relation to traffic flow to the SPIRE building, to the SPIRE project, in that current proposed location. That is something that we are working through.
Again, I emphasise that the traffic issues along Gilmore Crescent are existing issues. I have made an absolute commitment to work with Garran Primary School and with the local community to ensure that, as part of the development of the SPIRE project and as part of the Canberra Hospital master plan process, we address some of the existing traffic issues on Palmer Street and Gilmore Crescent, which I have visited with the Garran Primary School board. There are existing issues there. We recognise those. I have made an absolute commitment that we will work with the community to address some of those existing issues, which will not be made worse by the SPIRE project.
MRS JONES: Minister, what is the point in community consultation by the government on the safety and security of the 600 children who attend Garran Primary School after the government had already decided on SPIRE’s location? Is there any possibility that you will move the entrance?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Mrs Jones for the supplementary question. We will not be moving the location of SPIRE. This is the result of a lot of work in the Health Directorate. We will work closely with the community to look at traffic flow to the SPIRE emergency department. We have already made that commitment. But this is the point where we are engaging with the community, as I have repeatedly said, at the beginning of a detailed design process. We have just gone out for expressions of interest to be our construction partner or to be our early contractor involvement partner—
Mrs Jones: I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. My question included the question: is there any chance that the entrance will be moved? The minister has answered that the building will not be moved, but that was not the question. Could you ask the minister to answer the question as to whether the entrance might be moved?
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