Page 4415 - Week 10 - Thursday, 23 September 2010

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video

---

Question so resolved in the negative.

MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: The question is that the motion, as amended, be agreed to.

MR HANSON (Molonglo) (11.27): In closing, I would like to thank members for their contributions today. I welcome the unanimous support of the Assembly for this motion and the referring of such an important matter to an Assembly committee. I am disappointed that the motion was not amended with the amendment I put forward. It would have, in essence, assured us that the minister was not going to continue on with her sort of behaviour that we have seen, which is to try and do things behind closed doors, which is to try and ignore the will of the Assembly in regard to this matter. I am disappointed and I fear that she may try essentially to defy the will of the Assembly by making a formal decision prior to the committee tabling its report in March. If she does so, then she should be rightly condemned.

Madam Deputy Speaker, there is no doubt that this is today a win for openness and accountability. This has been a long process of trying to get some openness from the government. They have refused every step of the way to be open and accountable and to accept scrutiny when it comes to the Calvary hospital purchase. We have asked for a business case and moved a motion in that regard. We have asked for this to be sent to the Auditor-General. We have asked for documents to be tabled. At each step along the way they have refused.

I do welcome now the opportunity for the health committee, chaired by Mr Doszpot, to look into this matter and help inform the Assembly so that when we are charged with being involved in making what will be a very important decision, I am sure, for the future of Canberra’s health care, we actually can have access to the documents. We can make sure that someone at least, if the minister is refusing to, is speaking to the experts and looking at this with the rigour that it needs to be looked at.

I finally would like to offer my support to the committee. I wish you every success with your scrutiny of these elements and I hope that the government in the committee’s endeavours provides its full support to the committee in response to any documents that it requests or any other support that it might ask for.

Motion, as amended, agreed to.

---

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video