Page 3870 - Week 12 - Thursday, 29 October 2015

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The location of the new outpatients building in building 15 on the campus includes dedicated set-down and pickup facilities. It is very close to the new southern car park. All of these are delivering more efficiencies in our health service and better care and better facilities for patients. (Time expired.)

MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Ms Fitzharris.

MS FITZHARRIS: Minister, can you please update the Assembly on other infrastructure works underway at Canberra Hospital?

MR CORBELL: Of course this government is investing significantly in the Canberra Hospital. What I have been able to demonstrate today is a broad range of projects underway that are delivering better healthcare facilities for our city and for our community.

As part of the ongoing works across the hospital campus, there is also the replacement of the 45-year-old services contained under Hospital Road, which is the main road through the middle of the campus. This includes the upgrade or replacement of water, gas, high voltage electricity, information and communication technology infrastructure, and sewerage. To complete these works and to support the construction of building 15, Hospital Road has been closed since early 2015. It is expected to reopen later this year.

Another ongoing project is signage and way-finding. This project is focused on improving navigation for people around what is a large and complex hospital campus. We have done that in consultation with the community, and by engaging with a signage and way-finding stakeholder group. This group includes people with visual and physical impairments, people with medical conditions and people from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and bringing them together to help us make sure we improve signage and way-finding across the hospital in a logical and coherent way. I think that is very important on a large and busy hospital campus.

We have also started construction of a new specialised storage facility for cryogenics, which will deliver a cost-effective facility with modern equipment, doubling the capacity of the current store to preserve stem cells and research samples. So this is a very important investment in that area. It is a $1.1 million project and it is well and truly underway. (Time expired.)

Canberra visitor centre—relocation

MR SMYTH: My question is to the Minister for Tourism. What analysis has the government done on the impact of relocating the Canberra visitor centre to Regatta Point in terms of ease of access for tourists?

MR BARR: The government has considered a range of options for a new location for the Canberra tourist information service. We have particularly noted the significant change in the way that tourists are accessing and seeking tourist information, and that has been incorporated into our thinking in terms of the design and fit-out of a new visitor information centre for the city.


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