Page 745 - Week 02 - Thursday, 25 February 2010

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MR STANHOPE: The cottage has, for the entire period of the last two years, been subject to regular and routine security assessment and visitation.

MR SPEAKER: Ms Bresnan, a supplementary question?

MS BRESNAN: Why has it taken so long to start the renovations, considering that the new tenant was announced in June last year?

MR STANHOPE: I will have to take some detail on the time line, and I am more than happy to provide the exact time line. It is a cottage that actually has been nominated for registry on the heritage list. There would be a whole range of issues around heritage and heritage assessment. Heritage architects actually would have been engaged. There would have been a tender process. There would have been a DA process. There would have been planning. There would have been the need to actually draw up plans and have the plans approved and certified, submitted to ACTPLA and approved. Indeed, as I said, I think the time line is quite reasonable.

Health system—Canberra Hospital

MR SMYTH: My question is to the Minister for Health. Minister, yesterday you said that you had known about the 10-year war since 2005, even before your time as health minister. Minister, how does this reconcile with your comment in the Canberra Times of 19 February that “at this point all I’ve seen is a lot of mud being slung around and no substantiation”?

MS GALLAGHER: Because they are answers to two entirely different questions. The first quote you used was in relation to the broader issue of the tensions that have existed across the obstetric community for a number of years. Again, I do not know what trouble you are having grasping that. Anybody who has spoken to any obstetrician, I think, will confirm that tensions exist. And they are tensions that exist between doctors around different perspectives of how things should be run, how services should be run.

In relation to the second quote that you used, I was speaking specifically around the comments that were made in the media that started on Tuesday of last week.

MR SPEAKER: Mr Smyth, a supplementary?

MR SMYTH: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Minister, was the 10-year war just a lot of mud-slinging and no substantiation? If so, why did you describe it as a war?

MS GALLAGHER: I could go and get the dictionary out, but usually the term “war” can be used. I do not have a dictionary in front of me to describe conflict that exists. I was merely drawing members’ attention to the fact that conflicts have existed between obstetricians across the ACT for a number of years.

MR SPEAKER: Mr Hargreaves, is this a supplementary?


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