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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 12 Hansard (13 November) . . Page.. 4146 ..

MR BERRY (Leader of the Opposition) (5.34): I present the report of the Select Committee on the Establishment of a New Private Hospital, which includes a dissenting report, together with copies of the minutes of proceedings, and I move:

That the report be noted.

This report arose from the Government's decision to establish a private hospital on government land co-located with the Canberra Hospital. It is not a new idea. This is an idea that was tried by Mr Humphries in the Alliance Government, except that Mr Humphries wished to place his hospital close to Calvary Hospital, which at the time would have had a similar effect on Calvary Hospital to that which this new development will have on the John James Memorial Hospital. It will not be received well by that business in the ACT. It is a business that will be affected by the Government's decision.

This report is about an inquiry that commenced at the time the Government, in a sneaky fashion, signed contracts for the development of that hospital, doing so on the morning of a debate about the establishment of this committee. Subsequently, the Government refused to provide copies of contracts and agreements in relation to the matter. It has treated the committee system here quite shabbily. The Government offered, on the one hand, access to some documents, provided that the committee kept these documents secret; but the committee was not prepared to give an undertaking that it would not release information if it thought it was in the public interest to do so.

That was the beginning of the committee; but it could not have started if it had not been for the work of the Secretariat in putting together a team. Mr John Cummins had to be called back to the Assembly. Mr Cummins was associated with the Assembly Secretariat at an earlier period. He had to deal with a committee which would have been difficult to manage, given the very busy circumstances of all of the members who were involved in it. His wordsmithing and patience have been a major contribution to the completion of this report. Kim Blackburn, in the Secretariat, worked tirelessly to support Mr Cummins in this role. Of course, Harold Hird and Kerrie Tucker were members of the committee.

This report is a majority report. It is not a unanimous report. The Liberal member, Mr Hird, understandably has issued a dissenting report, because this report is very critical of the Government's approach to this entire matter. It has been hopeless. I mentioned that, on the day the motion was moved to establish the select committee, the agreement was signed between the Government and HCoA. It was a deliberate move to block the committee's proper investigation of these issues - an absolutely deliberate move. It was a dishonest move and not reflective of the Government's utterances in relation to the committee process in this Assembly. You will never hear members of the Government say that the committee system is a joke, but we often see them treat it in that way.

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