Page 2059 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 4 June 2019

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Canberra Hospital—electrical systems

MRS DUNNE: My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. I refer to the answer to a question on notice about the replacement of the switchboards in buildings 2 and 12 at the Canberra Hospital, which shows the blowout in cost from a projected $14 million to now $42 million, an increase of $28 million. Minister, what areas have had to be defunded to meet the $28 million shortfall in the switchboard work, and have any clinical areas lost funding to meet this demand?

MS FITZHARRIS: I will build on the answer to the question on notice I provided to Mrs Dunne on this matter, because these questions were raised in that. I will provide further information. As Mrs Dunne is aware, this full package is around upgrading and maintaining health assets across the territory funded a number of years ago. The original scoping of the project was before there was, in effect, the opportunity to get behind the walls. As that work has proceeded, this project to replace this switchboard will cost more money—

Mrs Dunne: I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker, on relevance. The question was about whether there were areas that have had their funding cut to meet the unexpected $28 million increase in the project, not a description of the project. I ask that the minister be directly relevant to the question. Have any areas had their funding cut? In particular, have any clinical areas had their funding cut?

MADAM SPEAKER: I ask the minister, who is only 40 seconds into the answer, to perhaps satisfy Mrs Dunne and come to that point.

MS FITZHARRIS: This is a project, and funding has been provided in the existing scoping. This funding was not for the provision of clinical services. So the answer to the second part of the question is no. I will provide a further response to the first part of Mrs Dunne’s question on notice.

MRS DUNNE: Have other parts of the UMAHA maintenance project also had significant increases in their budget?

MS FITZHARRIS: I refer Mrs Dunne to the answer provided under the question on notice that she referred to.

MISS C BURCH: Minister, why was the whole project not re-tendered when it was discovered that the scope of the works had changed so much?

MS FITZHARRIS: I believe it absolutely complies with the procurement guidelines on scoping a project. But if I have anything further to add, I will provide that on notice.

Environment—water quality

MS LAWDER: My question is to the minister for the environment. Minister, lakes and waterways in the ACT have long been unusable due to the high levels of


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