Page 1956 - Week 07 - Thursday, 13 August 2020
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
fortunate across this government to have a history of very strong arts ministers, and I am proud to be following in their footsteps.
MRS DUNNE: Minister, when will your tired government start taking the arts seriously, update its arts policy and stop neglecting the arts community, especially in this important and difficult time?
MR RAMSAY: I thank Mrs Dunne for her question. Again, supporting the arts in this particular time is extremely important for us, and that is why we are so pleased to have been nation-leading in our response—a very quick response to the COVID situation for arts individuals and for arts organisations. We are very pleased to have been providing millions of dollars into our arts organisations, funding our arts practitioners to ensure that they are able to be supported. We note that our response was not at all tired. It was very fast. It was very quick. It was certainly well ahead of the federal government, which has announced funding but none of it looks like coming out in this calendar year. By way of significant difference, we have supported our arts organisations. We have provided a million dollars through to our arts organisations to ensure that they remain sustainable and viable. We have provided funding for arts practitioners. We have provided $2½ million for the Cultural Facilities Corporation to ensure that that can continue.
I have worked with my Minister’s Creative Council and met with the chair again yesterday. We are very determined to make sure that our arts survive this time and are strong not only for their own sakes but for the sake of the broader community. In difficult times like this we, as a community, will turn to our arts. They refresh us during this time. There are a whole range of ways that we have been able to be engaged with the arts during the shutdown. We have had the Where You Are Festival to make sure that people across Canberra can continue to engage with the arts. We will continue to do that, and I am proud to be the minister in this government supporting this vital industry.
Canberra Hospital—expansion
MS CHEYNE: My question is to the Minister for Health. Minister, could you please provide an update on the Canberra Hospital expansion?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Ms Cheyne for her question and her interest in the Canberra Hospital expansion. Through the Canberra Hospital expansion, the ACT government will deliver more healthcare capacity, to cater for the continued growth of Canberra and our surrounding region.
This 40,000 square metre addition to the existing hospital campus—the SPIRE building, as it is known—is being designed to deliver state-of-the-art patient care and to meet the healthcare needs of our growing city. It will deliver 114 emergency department treatment spaces, 39 more than are currently available at the Canberra Hospital, and 60 ICU beds, 12 more than originally planned, doubling what is currently available. The ICU will also include, importantly, four paediatric ICU beds. The building will include 22 new state-of-the-art operating theatres, an increase from the 13 currently available and two more than originally planned. The theatres will
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video