❓ The Minister for Health provides a lengthy, politically charged update on the Albany Hospital election commitment, focusing on past Labor Party promises and actions before highlighting current progress.
AnsweredQoN 879Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ALBANY HOSPITAL — ELECTION COMMITMENT
Can the minister please provide an update to the house on the progress of the election commitment to build a new Albany Hospital? Dr K.D. HAMES
Can the minister please provide an update to the house on the progress of the election commitment to build a new Albany Hospital? Dr K.D. HAMES
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question. I was talking the other day about Fiona Stanley Hospital and how well it was going, so I thought this would be a good time to update the house on the progress of Albany Hospital. The Attorney General taught us all about laminating, but I have to say I did not bother laminating the first document; it is just blank paper titled, “Labor Party Albany Hospital”! I just want to remind members of a little history. The member for Albany, to his credit, fought long and hard to get a hospital in Albany. Sadly, he was unsuccessful under his former leadership. I will just remind members of the background for the timing of those commitments. The Labor Party committed $20 million in the 2005–06 budget for the upgrading of Albany Hospital. By 2006–07, one year later, that amount had grown to $26.8 million, but still there was no sign of action on the ground. There was a further $26.8 million for 2007, and we were then leading up to the election of 2008. We were getting to the stage, about a year and a bit out from the election, where the Labor Party was extremely embarrassed. It had promised before the previous election to build a new hospital in Albany and it just did not happen. In the lead-up to the 2008 election, the Liberal Party had promised to build a new hospital—something that the former Labor Minister for Health rubbished and said was not necessary. The first of my laminated documents is a story from a local Albany paper which refers, in its title, to the hospital being on the sick list. The Labor Party had said that it would fast-track the Albany Hospital. The article refers to Albany’s fast-tracked $26 million hospital upgrade having been stuck at the starting gate since being promised before the 2005 election, and that it was fast disappearing. So nothing happened. In December 2007, the current Leader of the Opposition went down to Albany and the local paper reported him as saying that the Labor Party forgot hospitals. Mr E.S. Ripper : That was, of course, a lie. It’s shocking, but the person I met with actually lied. Dr K.D. HAMES : We should ask the member for Albany, who was at the meeting. There were a couple of others at the meeting. Obviously they were collective liars; there was not just one liar in this. There was a collective group of liars there. Three people at that meeting, including the mayor, said that he forgot. Two and a half years later there was still no sign of any plans, so who did the Labor Party blame? The bureaucrats. It was apparently the health department. Close to the election Mr Carpenter, who was Premier at the time, went to Albany to resurrect the hospital. He announced $50 million to upgrade the hospital. It was about this time that the then opposition happened to get a leaked report that went through a pile of different scenarios of what should happen at the hospital. One of them was the $50 million upgrade, but the recommended option was to build a new hospital—exactly what the Liberal Party promised in opposition before the 2008 election, and exactly what the former Minister for Health ridiculed and said was absolute nonsense. This was a report of a consultant group that had investigated what should happen with the hospital, and it recommended a brand-new hospital. As a good shadow minister, that is what I committed to: the Liberal Party would build a new hospital during our first term of government. Mr Carpenter said that design work would commence in March 2008 and tenders would be called for in October 2008. The Labor Party never got there. Mr Carpenter promised during the election campaign in 2008 to build a new hospital. So, in fact, there were no plans to do what was being promised that whole time of the Labor Party’s time in government. No plans were done but just before the election, to match our promise, Labor came in, dipped into the kitty and pulled out about $160 million to build the new hospital. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s because state debt was only $3.634 billion. It wasn’t heading for $23 billion. Dr K.D. HAMES : What has happened since then? We obviously won government. We had made a commitment to fast-track the hospital and to provide in the order of $170 million, not the $28 million of the Labor Party’s first weak effort. We committed $170 million for the hospital, and here are the pictures, members. A very large brand-new hospital; members can see the construction site there. Mr P.B. Watson : That’s tremendous, minister; I applaud you for it. But what was your original quote for the hospital when you went to the election? Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
Dr K.D. HAMES replied: I thank the member for the question. I was talking the other day about Fiona Stanley Hospital and how well it was going, so I thought this would be a good time to update the house on the progress of Albany Hospital. The Attorney General taught us all about laminating, but I have to say I did not bother laminating the first document; it is just blank paper titled, “Labor Party Albany Hospital”! I just want to remind members of a little history. The member for Albany, to his credit, fought long and hard to get a hospital in Albany. Sadly, he was unsuccessful under his former leadership. I will just remind members of the background for the timing of those commitments. The Labor Party committed $20 million in the 2005–06 budget for the upgrading of Albany Hospital. By 2006–07, one year later, that amount had grown to $26.8 million, but still there was no sign of action on the ground. There was a further $26.8 million for 2007, and we were then leading up to the election of 2008. We were getting to the stage, about a year and a bit out from the election, where the Labor Party was extremely embarrassed. It had promised before the previous election to build a new hospital in Albany and it just did not happen. In the lead-up to the 2008 election, the Liberal Party had promised to build a new hospital—something that the former Labor Minister for Health rubbished and said was not necessary. The first of my laminated documents is a story from a local Albany paper which refers, in its title, to the hospital being on the sick list. The Labor Party had said that it would fast-track the Albany Hospital. The article refers to Albany’s fast-tracked $26 million hospital upgrade having been stuck at the starting gate since being promised before the 2005 election, and that it was fast disappearing. So nothing happened. In December 2007, the current Leader of the Opposition went down to Albany and the local paper reported him as saying that the Labor Party forgot hospitals. Mr E.S. Ripper : That was, of course, a lie. It’s shocking, but the person I met with actually lied. Dr K.D. HAMES : We should ask the member for Albany, who was at the meeting. There were a couple of others at the meeting. Obviously they were collective liars; there was not just one liar in this. There was a collective group of liars there. Three people at that meeting, including the mayor, said that he forgot. Two and a half years later there was still no sign of any plans, so who did the Labor Party blame? The bureaucrats. It was apparently the health department. Close to the election Mr Carpenter, who was Premier at the time, went to Albany to resurrect the hospital. He announced $50 million to upgrade the hospital. It was about this time that the then opposition happened to get a leaked report that went through a pile of different scenarios of what should happen at the hospital. One of them was the $50 million upgrade, but the recommended option was to build a new hospital—exactly what the Liberal Party promised in opposition before the 2008 election, and exactly what the former Minister for Health ridiculed and said was absolute nonsense. This was a report of a consultant group that had investigated what should happen with the hospital, and it recommended a brand-new hospital. As a good shadow minister, that is what I committed to: the Liberal Party would build a new hospital during our first term of government. Mr Carpenter said that design work would commence in March 2008 and tenders would be called for in October 2008. The Labor Party never got there. Mr Carpenter promised during the election campaign in 2008 to build a new hospital. So, in fact, there were no plans to do what was being promised that whole time of the Labor Party’s time in government. No plans were done but just before the election, to match our promise, Labor came in, dipped into the kitty and pulled out about $160 million to build the new hospital. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s because state debt was only $3.634 billion. It wasn’t heading for $23 billion. Dr K.D. HAMES : What has happened since then? We obviously won government. We had made a commitment to fast-track the hospital and to provide in the order of $170 million, not the $28 million of the Labor Party’s first weak effort. We committed $170 million for the hospital, and here are the pictures, members. A very large brand-new hospital; members can see the construction site there. Mr P.B. Watson : That’s tremendous, minister; I applaud you for it. But what was your original quote for the hospital when you went to the election? Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
I thank the member for the question. I was talking the other day about Fiona Stanley Hospital and how well it was going, so I thought this would be a good time to update the house on the progress of Albany Hospital. The Attorney General taught us all about laminating, but I have to say I did not bother laminating the first document; it is just blank paper titled, “Labor Party Albany Hospital”! I just want to remind members of a little history. The member for Albany, to his credit, fought long and hard to get a hospital in Albany. Sadly, he was unsuccessful under his former leadership. I will just remind members of the background for the timing of those commitments. The Labor Party committed $20 million in the 2005–06 budget for the upgrading of Albany Hospital. By 2006–07, one year later, that amount had grown to $26.8 million, but still there was no sign of action on the ground. There was a further $26.8 million for 2007, and we were then leading up to the election of 2008. We were getting to the stage, about a year and a bit out from the election, where the Labor Party was extremely embarrassed. It had promised before the previous election to build a new hospital in Albany and it just did not happen. In the lead-up to the 2008 election, the Liberal Party had promised to build a new hospital—something that the former Labor Minister for Health rubbished and said was not necessary. The first of my laminated documents is a story from a local Albany paper which refers, in its title, to the hospital being on the sick list. The Labor Party had said that it would fast-track the Albany Hospital. The article refers to Albany’s fast-tracked $26 million hospital upgrade having been stuck at the starting gate since being promised before the 2005 election, and that it was fast disappearing. So nothing happened. In December 2007, the current Leader of the Opposition went down to Albany and the local paper reported him as saying that the Labor Party forgot hospitals. Mr E.S. Ripper : That was, of course, a lie. It’s shocking, but the person I met with actually lied. Dr K.D. HAMES : We should ask the member for Albany, who was at the meeting. There were a couple of others at the meeting. Obviously they were collective liars; there was not just one liar in this. There was a collective group of liars there. Three people at that meeting, including the mayor, said that he forgot. Two and a half years later there was still no sign of any plans, so who did the Labor Party blame? The bureaucrats. It was apparently the health department. Close to the election Mr Carpenter, who was Premier at the time, went to Albany to resurrect the hospital. He announced $50 million to upgrade the hospital. It was about this time that the then opposition happened to get a leaked report that went through a pile of different scenarios of what should happen at the hospital. One of them was the $50 million upgrade, but the recommended option was to build a new hospital—exactly what the Liberal Party promised in opposition before the 2008 election, and exactly what the former Minister for Health ridiculed and said was absolute nonsense. This was a report of a consultant group that had investigated what should happen with the hospital, and it recommended a brand-new hospital. As a good shadow minister, that is what I committed to: the Liberal Party would build a new hospital during our first term of government. Mr Carpenter said that design work would commence in March 2008 and tenders would be called for in October 2008. The Labor Party never got there. Mr Carpenter promised during the election campaign in 2008 to build a new hospital. So, in fact, there were no plans to do what was being promised that whole time of the Labor Party’s time in government. No plans were done but just before the election, to match our promise, Labor came in, dipped into the kitty and pulled out about $160 million to build the new hospital. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s because state debt was only $3.634 billion. It wasn’t heading for $23 billion. Dr K.D. HAMES : What has happened since then? We obviously won government. We had made a commitment to fast-track the hospital and to provide in the order of $170 million, not the $28 million of the Labor Party’s first weak effort. We committed $170 million for the hospital, and here are the pictures, members. A very large brand-new hospital; members can see the construction site there. Mr P.B. Watson : That’s tremendous, minister; I applaud you for it. But what was your original quote for the hospital when you went to the election? Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
I just want to remind members of a little history. The member for Albany, to his credit, fought long and hard to get a hospital in Albany. Sadly, he was unsuccessful under his former leadership. I will just remind members of the background for the timing of those commitments. The Labor Party committed $20 million in the 2005–06 budget for the upgrading of Albany Hospital. By 2006–07, one year later, that amount had grown to $26.8 million, but still there was no sign of action on the ground. There was a further $26.8 million for 2007, and we were then leading up to the election of 2008. We were getting to the stage, about a year and a bit out from the election, where the Labor Party was extremely embarrassed. It had promised before the previous election to build a new hospital in Albany and it just did not happen. In the lead-up to the 2008 election, the Liberal Party had promised to build a new hospital—something that the former Labor Minister for Health rubbished and said was not necessary. The first of my laminated documents is a story from a local Albany paper which refers, in its title, to the hospital being on the sick list. The Labor Party had said that it would fast-track the Albany Hospital. The article refers to Albany’s fast-tracked $26 million hospital upgrade having been stuck at the starting gate since being promised before the 2005 election, and that it was fast disappearing. So nothing happened. In December 2007, the current Leader of the Opposition went down to Albany and the local paper reported him as saying that the Labor Party forgot hospitals. Mr E.S. Ripper : That was, of course, a lie. It’s shocking, but the person I met with actually lied. Dr K.D. HAMES : We should ask the member for Albany, who was at the meeting. There were a couple of others at the meeting. Obviously they were collective liars; there was not just one liar in this. There was a collective group of liars there. Three people at that meeting, including the mayor, said that he forgot. Two and a half years later there was still no sign of any plans, so who did the Labor Party blame? The bureaucrats. It was apparently the health department. Close to the election Mr Carpenter, who was Premier at the time, went to Albany to resurrect the hospital. He announced $50 million to upgrade the hospital. It was about this time that the then opposition happened to get a leaked report that went through a pile of different scenarios of what should happen at the hospital. One of them was the $50 million upgrade, but the recommended option was to build a new hospital—exactly what the Liberal Party promised in opposition before the 2008 election, and exactly what the former Minister for Health ridiculed and said was absolute nonsense. This was a report of a consultant group that had investigated what should happen with the hospital, and it recommended a brand-new hospital. As a good shadow minister, that is what I committed to: the Liberal Party would build a new hospital during our first term of government. Mr Carpenter said that design work would commence in March 2008 and tenders would be called for in October 2008. The Labor Party never got there. Mr Carpenter promised during the election campaign in 2008 to build a new hospital. So, in fact, there were no plans to do what was being promised that whole time of the Labor Party’s time in government. No plans were done but just before the election, to match our promise, Labor came in, dipped into the kitty and pulled out about $160 million to build the new hospital. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s because state debt was only $3.634 billion. It wasn’t heading for $23 billion. Dr K.D. HAMES : What has happened since then? We obviously won government. We had made a commitment to fast-track the hospital and to provide in the order of $170 million, not the $28 million of the Labor Party’s first weak effort. We committed $170 million for the hospital, and here are the pictures, members. A very large brand-new hospital; members can see the construction site there. Mr P.B. Watson : That’s tremendous, minister; I applaud you for it. But what was your original quote for the hospital when you went to the election? Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
The first of my laminated documents is a story from a local Albany paper which refers, in its title, to the hospital being on the sick list. The Labor Party had said that it would fast-track the Albany Hospital. The article refers to Albany’s fast-tracked $26 million hospital upgrade having been stuck at the starting gate since being promised before the 2005 election, and that it was fast disappearing. So nothing happened. In December 2007, the current Leader of the Opposition went down to Albany and the local paper reported him as saying that the Labor Party forgot hospitals. Mr E.S. Ripper : That was, of course, a lie. It’s shocking, but the person I met with actually lied. Dr K.D. HAMES : We should ask the member for Albany, who was at the meeting. There were a couple of others at the meeting. Obviously they were collective liars; there was not just one liar in this. There was a collective group of liars there. Three people at that meeting, including the mayor, said that he forgot. Two and a half years later there was still no sign of any plans, so who did the Labor Party blame? The bureaucrats. It was apparently the health department. Close to the election Mr Carpenter, who was Premier at the time, went to Albany to resurrect the hospital. He announced $50 million to upgrade the hospital. It was about this time that the then opposition happened to get a leaked report that went through a pile of different scenarios of what should happen at the hospital. One of them was the $50 million upgrade, but the recommended option was to build a new hospital—exactly what the Liberal Party promised in opposition before the 2008 election, and exactly what the former Minister for Health ridiculed and said was absolute nonsense. This was a report of a consultant group that had investigated what should happen with the hospital, and it recommended a brand-new hospital. As a good shadow minister, that is what I committed to: the Liberal Party would build a new hospital during our first term of government. Mr Carpenter said that design work would commence in March 2008 and tenders would be called for in October 2008. The Labor Party never got there. Mr Carpenter promised during the election campaign in 2008 to build a new hospital. So, in fact, there were no plans to do what was being promised that whole time of the Labor Party’s time in government. No plans were done but just before the election, to match our promise, Labor came in, dipped into the kitty and pulled out about $160 million to build the new hospital. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s because state debt was only $3.634 billion. It wasn’t heading for $23 billion. Dr K.D. HAMES : What has happened since then? We obviously won government. We had made a commitment to fast-track the hospital and to provide in the order of $170 million, not the $28 million of the Labor Party’s first weak effort. We committed $170 million for the hospital, and here are the pictures, members. A very large brand-new hospital; members can see the construction site there. Mr P.B. Watson : That’s tremendous, minister; I applaud you for it. But what was your original quote for the hospital when you went to the election? Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
In December 2007, the current Leader of the Opposition went down to Albany and the local paper reported him as saying that the Labor Party forgot hospitals. Mr E.S. Ripper : That was, of course, a lie. It’s shocking, but the person I met with actually lied. Dr K.D. HAMES : We should ask the member for Albany, who was at the meeting. There were a couple of others at the meeting. Obviously they were collective liars; there was not just one liar in this. There was a collective group of liars there. Three people at that meeting, including the mayor, said that he forgot. Two and a half years later there was still no sign of any plans, so who did the Labor Party blame? The bureaucrats. It was apparently the health department. Close to the election Mr Carpenter, who was Premier at the time, went to Albany to resurrect the hospital. He announced $50 million to upgrade the hospital. It was about this time that the then opposition happened to get a leaked report that went through a pile of different scenarios of what should happen at the hospital. One of them was the $50 million upgrade, but the recommended option was to build a new hospital—exactly what the Liberal Party promised in opposition before the 2008 election, and exactly what the former Minister for Health ridiculed and said was absolute nonsense. This was a report of a consultant group that had investigated what should happen with the hospital, and it recommended a brand-new hospital. As a good shadow minister, that is what I committed to: the Liberal Party would build a new hospital during our first term of government. Mr Carpenter said that design work would commence in March 2008 and tenders would be called for in October 2008. The Labor Party never got there. Mr Carpenter promised during the election campaign in 2008 to build a new hospital. So, in fact, there were no plans to do what was being promised that whole time of the Labor Party’s time in government. No plans were done but just before the election, to match our promise, Labor came in, dipped into the kitty and pulled out about $160 million to build the new hospital. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s because state debt was only $3.634 billion. It wasn’t heading for $23 billion. Dr K.D. HAMES : What has happened since then? We obviously won government. We had made a commitment to fast-track the hospital and to provide in the order of $170 million, not the $28 million of the Labor Party’s first weak effort. We committed $170 million for the hospital, and here are the pictures, members. A very large brand-new hospital; members can see the construction site there. Mr P.B. Watson : That’s tremendous, minister; I applaud you for it. But what was your original quote for the hospital when you went to the election? Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
Mr E.S. Ripper : That was, of course, a lie. It’s shocking, but the person I met with actually lied. Dr K.D. HAMES : We should ask the member for Albany, who was at the meeting. There were a couple of others at the meeting. Obviously they were collective liars; there was not just one liar in this. There was a collective group of liars there. Three people at that meeting, including the mayor, said that he forgot. Two and a half years later there was still no sign of any plans, so who did the Labor Party blame? The bureaucrats. It was apparently the health department. Close to the election Mr Carpenter, who was Premier at the time, went to Albany to resurrect the hospital. He announced $50 million to upgrade the hospital. It was about this time that the then opposition happened to get a leaked report that went through a pile of different scenarios of what should happen at the hospital. One of them was the $50 million upgrade, but the recommended option was to build a new hospital—exactly what the Liberal Party promised in opposition before the 2008 election, and exactly what the former Minister for Health ridiculed and said was absolute nonsense. This was a report of a consultant group that had investigated what should happen with the hospital, and it recommended a brand-new hospital. As a good shadow minister, that is what I committed to: the Liberal Party would build a new hospital during our first term of government. Mr Carpenter said that design work would commence in March 2008 and tenders would be called for in October 2008. The Labor Party never got there. Mr Carpenter promised during the election campaign in 2008 to build a new hospital. So, in fact, there were no plans to do what was being promised that whole time of the Labor Party’s time in government. No plans were done but just before the election, to match our promise, Labor came in, dipped into the kitty and pulled out about $160 million to build the new hospital. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s because state debt was only $3.634 billion. It wasn’t heading for $23 billion. Dr K.D. HAMES : What has happened since then? We obviously won government. We had made a commitment to fast-track the hospital and to provide in the order of $170 million, not the $28 million of the Labor Party’s first weak effort. We committed $170 million for the hospital, and here are the pictures, members. A very large brand-new hospital; members can see the construction site there. Mr P.B. Watson : That’s tremendous, minister; I applaud you for it. But what was your original quote for the hospital when you went to the election? Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
Dr K.D. HAMES : We should ask the member for Albany, who was at the meeting. There were a couple of others at the meeting. Obviously they were collective liars; there was not just one liar in this. There was a collective group of liars there. Three people at that meeting, including the mayor, said that he forgot. Two and a half years later there was still no sign of any plans, so who did the Labor Party blame? The bureaucrats. It was apparently the health department. Close to the election Mr Carpenter, who was Premier at the time, went to Albany to resurrect the hospital. He announced $50 million to upgrade the hospital. It was about this time that the then opposition happened to get a leaked report that went through a pile of different scenarios of what should happen at the hospital. One of them was the $50 million upgrade, but the recommended option was to build a new hospital—exactly what the Liberal Party promised in opposition before the 2008 election, and exactly what the former Minister for Health ridiculed and said was absolute nonsense. This was a report of a consultant group that had investigated what should happen with the hospital, and it recommended a brand-new hospital. As a good shadow minister, that is what I committed to: the Liberal Party would build a new hospital during our first term of government. Mr Carpenter said that design work would commence in March 2008 and tenders would be called for in October 2008. The Labor Party never got there. Mr Carpenter promised during the election campaign in 2008 to build a new hospital. So, in fact, there were no plans to do what was being promised that whole time of the Labor Party’s time in government. No plans were done but just before the election, to match our promise, Labor came in, dipped into the kitty and pulled out about $160 million to build the new hospital. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s because state debt was only $3.634 billion. It wasn’t heading for $23 billion. Dr K.D. HAMES : What has happened since then? We obviously won government. We had made a commitment to fast-track the hospital and to provide in the order of $170 million, not the $28 million of the Labor Party’s first weak effort. We committed $170 million for the hospital, and here are the pictures, members. A very large brand-new hospital; members can see the construction site there. Mr P.B. Watson : That’s tremendous, minister; I applaud you for it. But what was your original quote for the hospital when you went to the election? Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
Close to the election Mr Carpenter, who was Premier at the time, went to Albany to resurrect the hospital. He announced $50 million to upgrade the hospital. It was about this time that the then opposition happened to get a leaked report that went through a pile of different scenarios of what should happen at the hospital. One of them was the $50 million upgrade, but the recommended option was to build a new hospital—exactly what the Liberal Party promised in opposition before the 2008 election, and exactly what the former Minister for Health ridiculed and said was absolute nonsense. This was a report of a consultant group that had investigated what should happen with the hospital, and it recommended a brand-new hospital. As a good shadow minister, that is what I committed to: the Liberal Party would build a new hospital during our first term of government. Mr Carpenter said that design work would commence in March 2008 and tenders would be called for in October 2008. The Labor Party never got there. Mr Carpenter promised during the election campaign in 2008 to build a new hospital. So, in fact, there were no plans to do what was being promised that whole time of the Labor Party’s time in government. No plans were done but just before the election, to match our promise, Labor came in, dipped into the kitty and pulled out about $160 million to build the new hospital. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s because state debt was only $3.634 billion. It wasn’t heading for $23 billion. Dr K.D. HAMES : What has happened since then? We obviously won government. We had made a commitment to fast-track the hospital and to provide in the order of $170 million, not the $28 million of the Labor Party’s first weak effort. We committed $170 million for the hospital, and here are the pictures, members. A very large brand-new hospital; members can see the construction site there. Mr P.B. Watson : That’s tremendous, minister; I applaud you for it. But what was your original quote for the hospital when you went to the election? Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
Mr Carpenter said that design work would commence in March 2008 and tenders would be called for in October 2008. The Labor Party never got there. Mr Carpenter promised during the election campaign in 2008 to build a new hospital. So, in fact, there were no plans to do what was being promised that whole time of the Labor Party’s time in government. No plans were done but just before the election, to match our promise, Labor came in, dipped into the kitty and pulled out about $160 million to build the new hospital. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s because state debt was only $3.634 billion. It wasn’t heading for $23 billion. Dr K.D. HAMES : What has happened since then? We obviously won government. We had made a commitment to fast-track the hospital and to provide in the order of $170 million, not the $28 million of the Labor Party’s first weak effort. We committed $170 million for the hospital, and here are the pictures, members. A very large brand-new hospital; members can see the construction site there. Mr P.B. Watson : That’s tremendous, minister; I applaud you for it. But what was your original quote for the hospital when you went to the election? Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s because state debt was only $3.634 billion. It wasn’t heading for $23 billion. Dr K.D. HAMES : What has happened since then? We obviously won government. We had made a commitment to fast-track the hospital and to provide in the order of $170 million, not the $28 million of the Labor Party’s first weak effort. We committed $170 million for the hospital, and here are the pictures, members. A very large brand-new hospital; members can see the construction site there. Mr P.B. Watson : That’s tremendous, minister; I applaud you for it. But what was your original quote for the hospital when you went to the election? Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
Dr K.D. HAMES : What has happened since then? We obviously won government. We had made a commitment to fast-track the hospital and to provide in the order of $170 million, not the $28 million of the Labor Party’s first weak effort. We committed $170 million for the hospital, and here are the pictures, members. A very large brand-new hospital; members can see the construction site there. Mr P.B. Watson : That’s tremendous, minister; I applaud you for it. But what was your original quote for the hospital when you went to the election? Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
Mr P.B. Watson : That’s tremendous, minister; I applaud you for it. But what was your original quote for the hospital when you went to the election? Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
[See paper 4357.]
Dr K.D. HAMES replied: I thank the member for the question. I was talking the other day about Fiona Stanley Hospital and how well it was going, so I thought this would be a good time to update the house on the progress of Albany Hospital. The Attorney General taught us all about laminating, but I have to say I did not bother laminating the first document; it is just blank paper titled, “Labor Party Albany Hospital”! I just want to remind members of a little history. The member for Albany, to his credit, fought long and hard to get a hospital in Albany. Sadly, he was unsuccessful under his former leadership. I will just remind members of the background for the timing of those commitments. The Labor Party committed $20 million in the 2005–06 budget for the upgrading of Albany Hospital. By 2006–07, one year later, that amount had grown to $26.8 million, but still there was no sign of action on the ground. There was a further $26.8 million for 2007, and we were then leading up to the election of 2008. We were getting to the stage, about a year and a bit out from the election, where the Labor Party was extremely embarrassed. It had promised before the previous election to build a new hospital in Albany and it just did not happen. In the lead-up to the 2008 election, the Liberal Party had promised to build a new hospital—something that the former Labor Minister for Health rubbished and said was not necessary. The first of my laminated documents is a story from a local Albany paper which refers, in its title, to the hospital being on the sick list. The Labor Party had said that it would fast-track the Albany Hospital. The article refers to Albany’s fast-tracked $26 million hospital upgrade having been stuck at the starting gate since being promised before the 2005 election, and that it was fast disappearing. So nothing happened. In December 2007, the current Leader of the Opposition went down to Albany and the local paper reported him as saying that the Labor Party forgot hospitals. Mr E.S. Ripper : That was, of course, a lie. It’s shocking, but the person I met with actually lied. Dr K.D. HAMES : We should ask the member for Albany, who was at the meeting. There were a couple of others at the meeting. Obviously they were collective liars; there was not just one liar in this. There was a collective group of liars there. Three people at that meeting, including the mayor, said that he forgot. Two and a half years later there was still no sign of any plans, so who did the Labor Party blame? The bureaucrats. It was apparently the health department. Close to the election Mr Carpenter, who was Premier at the time, went to Albany to resurrect the hospital. He announced $50 million to upgrade the hospital. It was about this time that the then opposition happened to get a leaked report that went through a pile of different scenarios of what should happen at the hospital. One of them was the $50 million upgrade, but the recommended option was to build a new hospital—exactly what the Liberal Party promised in opposition before the 2008 election, and exactly what the former Minister for Health ridiculed and said was absolute nonsense. This was a report of a consultant group that had investigated what should happen with the hospital, and it recommended a brand-new hospital. As a good shadow minister, that is what I committed to: the Liberal Party would build a new hospital during our first term of government. Mr Carpenter said that design work would commence in March 2008 and tenders would be called for in October 2008. The Labor Party never got there. Mr Carpenter promised during the election campaign in 2008 to build a new hospital. So, in fact, there were no plans to do what was being promised that whole time of the Labor Party’s time in government. No plans were done but just before the election, to match our promise, Labor came in, dipped into the kitty and pulled out about $160 million to build the new hospital. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s because state debt was only $3.634 billion. It wasn’t heading for $23 billion. Dr K.D. HAMES : What has happened since then? We obviously won government. We had made a commitment to fast-track the hospital and to provide in the order of $170 million, not the $28 million of the Labor Party’s first weak effort. We committed $170 million for the hospital, and here are the pictures, members. A very large brand-new hospital; members can see the construction site there. Mr P.B. Watson : That’s tremendous, minister; I applaud you for it. But what was your original quote for the hospital when you went to the election? Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
I thank the member for the question. I was talking the other day about Fiona Stanley Hospital and how well it was going, so I thought this would be a good time to update the house on the progress of Albany Hospital. The Attorney General taught us all about laminating, but I have to say I did not bother laminating the first document; it is just blank paper titled, “Labor Party Albany Hospital”! I just want to remind members of a little history. The member for Albany, to his credit, fought long and hard to get a hospital in Albany. Sadly, he was unsuccessful under his former leadership. I will just remind members of the background for the timing of those commitments. The Labor Party committed $20 million in the 2005–06 budget for the upgrading of Albany Hospital. By 2006–07, one year later, that amount had grown to $26.8 million, but still there was no sign of action on the ground. There was a further $26.8 million for 2007, and we were then leading up to the election of 2008. We were getting to the stage, about a year and a bit out from the election, where the Labor Party was extremely embarrassed. It had promised before the previous election to build a new hospital in Albany and it just did not happen. In the lead-up to the 2008 election, the Liberal Party had promised to build a new hospital—something that the former Labor Minister for Health rubbished and said was not necessary. The first of my laminated documents is a story from a local Albany paper which refers, in its title, to the hospital being on the sick list. The Labor Party had said that it would fast-track the Albany Hospital. The article refers to Albany’s fast-tracked $26 million hospital upgrade having been stuck at the starting gate since being promised before the 2005 election, and that it was fast disappearing. So nothing happened. In December 2007, the current Leader of the Opposition went down to Albany and the local paper reported him as saying that the Labor Party forgot hospitals. Mr E.S. Ripper : That was, of course, a lie. It’s shocking, but the person I met with actually lied. Dr K.D. HAMES : We should ask the member for Albany, who was at the meeting. There were a couple of others at the meeting. Obviously they were collective liars; there was not just one liar in this. There was a collective group of liars there. Three people at that meeting, including the mayor, said that he forgot. Two and a half years later there was still no sign of any plans, so who did the Labor Party blame? The bureaucrats. It was apparently the health department. Close to the election Mr Carpenter, who was Premier at the time, went to Albany to resurrect the hospital. He announced $50 million to upgrade the hospital. It was about this time that the then opposition happened to get a leaked report that went through a pile of different scenarios of what should happen at the hospital. One of them was the $50 million upgrade, but the recommended option was to build a new hospital—exactly what the Liberal Party promised in opposition before the 2008 election, and exactly what the former Minister for Health ridiculed and said was absolute nonsense. This was a report of a consultant group that had investigated what should happen with the hospital, and it recommended a brand-new hospital. As a good shadow minister, that is what I committed to: the Liberal Party would build a new hospital during our first term of government. Mr Carpenter said that design work would commence in March 2008 and tenders would be called for in October 2008. The Labor Party never got there. Mr Carpenter promised during the election campaign in 2008 to build a new hospital. So, in fact, there were no plans to do what was being promised that whole time of the Labor Party’s time in government. No plans were done but just before the election, to match our promise, Labor came in, dipped into the kitty and pulled out about $160 million to build the new hospital. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s because state debt was only $3.634 billion. It wasn’t heading for $23 billion. Dr K.D. HAMES : What has happened since then? We obviously won government. We had made a commitment to fast-track the hospital and to provide in the order of $170 million, not the $28 million of the Labor Party’s first weak effort. We committed $170 million for the hospital, and here are the pictures, members. A very large brand-new hospital; members can see the construction site there. Mr P.B. Watson : That’s tremendous, minister; I applaud you for it. But what was your original quote for the hospital when you went to the election? Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
I just want to remind members of a little history. The member for Albany, to his credit, fought long and hard to get a hospital in Albany. Sadly, he was unsuccessful under his former leadership. I will just remind members of the background for the timing of those commitments. The Labor Party committed $20 million in the 2005–06 budget for the upgrading of Albany Hospital. By 2006–07, one year later, that amount had grown to $26.8 million, but still there was no sign of action on the ground. There was a further $26.8 million for 2007, and we were then leading up to the election of 2008. We were getting to the stage, about a year and a bit out from the election, where the Labor Party was extremely embarrassed. It had promised before the previous election to build a new hospital in Albany and it just did not happen. In the lead-up to the 2008 election, the Liberal Party had promised to build a new hospital—something that the former Labor Minister for Health rubbished and said was not necessary. The first of my laminated documents is a story from a local Albany paper which refers, in its title, to the hospital being on the sick list. The Labor Party had said that it would fast-track the Albany Hospital. The article refers to Albany’s fast-tracked $26 million hospital upgrade having been stuck at the starting gate since being promised before the 2005 election, and that it was fast disappearing. So nothing happened. In December 2007, the current Leader of the Opposition went down to Albany and the local paper reported him as saying that the Labor Party forgot hospitals. Mr E.S. Ripper : That was, of course, a lie. It’s shocking, but the person I met with actually lied. Dr K.D. HAMES : We should ask the member for Albany, who was at the meeting. There were a couple of others at the meeting. Obviously they were collective liars; there was not just one liar in this. There was a collective group of liars there. Three people at that meeting, including the mayor, said that he forgot. Two and a half years later there was still no sign of any plans, so who did the Labor Party blame? The bureaucrats. It was apparently the health department. Close to the election Mr Carpenter, who was Premier at the time, went to Albany to resurrect the hospital. He announced $50 million to upgrade the hospital. It was about this time that the then opposition happened to get a leaked report that went through a pile of different scenarios of what should happen at the hospital. One of them was the $50 million upgrade, but the recommended option was to build a new hospital—exactly what the Liberal Party promised in opposition before the 2008 election, and exactly what the former Minister for Health ridiculed and said was absolute nonsense. This was a report of a consultant group that had investigated what should happen with the hospital, and it recommended a brand-new hospital. As a good shadow minister, that is what I committed to: the Liberal Party would build a new hospital during our first term of government. Mr Carpenter said that design work would commence in March 2008 and tenders would be called for in October 2008. The Labor Party never got there. Mr Carpenter promised during the election campaign in 2008 to build a new hospital. So, in fact, there were no plans to do what was being promised that whole time of the Labor Party’s time in government. No plans were done but just before the election, to match our promise, Labor came in, dipped into the kitty and pulled out about $160 million to build the new hospital. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s because state debt was only $3.634 billion. It wasn’t heading for $23 billion. Dr K.D. HAMES : What has happened since then? We obviously won government. We had made a commitment to fast-track the hospital and to provide in the order of $170 million, not the $28 million of the Labor Party’s first weak effort. We committed $170 million for the hospital, and here are the pictures, members. A very large brand-new hospital; members can see the construction site there. Mr P.B. Watson : That’s tremendous, minister; I applaud you for it. But what was your original quote for the hospital when you went to the election? Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
The first of my laminated documents is a story from a local Albany paper which refers, in its title, to the hospital being on the sick list. The Labor Party had said that it would fast-track the Albany Hospital. The article refers to Albany’s fast-tracked $26 million hospital upgrade having been stuck at the starting gate since being promised before the 2005 election, and that it was fast disappearing. So nothing happened. In December 2007, the current Leader of the Opposition went down to Albany and the local paper reported him as saying that the Labor Party forgot hospitals. Mr E.S. Ripper : That was, of course, a lie. It’s shocking, but the person I met with actually lied. Dr K.D. HAMES : We should ask the member for Albany, who was at the meeting. There were a couple of others at the meeting. Obviously they were collective liars; there was not just one liar in this. There was a collective group of liars there. Three people at that meeting, including the mayor, said that he forgot. Two and a half years later there was still no sign of any plans, so who did the Labor Party blame? The bureaucrats. It was apparently the health department. Close to the election Mr Carpenter, who was Premier at the time, went to Albany to resurrect the hospital. He announced $50 million to upgrade the hospital. It was about this time that the then opposition happened to get a leaked report that went through a pile of different scenarios of what should happen at the hospital. One of them was the $50 million upgrade, but the recommended option was to build a new hospital—exactly what the Liberal Party promised in opposition before the 2008 election, and exactly what the former Minister for Health ridiculed and said was absolute nonsense. This was a report of a consultant group that had investigated what should happen with the hospital, and it recommended a brand-new hospital. As a good shadow minister, that is what I committed to: the Liberal Party would build a new hospital during our first term of government. Mr Carpenter said that design work would commence in March 2008 and tenders would be called for in October 2008. The Labor Party never got there. Mr Carpenter promised during the election campaign in 2008 to build a new hospital. So, in fact, there were no plans to do what was being promised that whole time of the Labor Party’s time in government. No plans were done but just before the election, to match our promise, Labor came in, dipped into the kitty and pulled out about $160 million to build the new hospital. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s because state debt was only $3.634 billion. It wasn’t heading for $23 billion. Dr K.D. HAMES : What has happened since then? We obviously won government. We had made a commitment to fast-track the hospital and to provide in the order of $170 million, not the $28 million of the Labor Party’s first weak effort. We committed $170 million for the hospital, and here are the pictures, members. A very large brand-new hospital; members can see the construction site there. Mr P.B. Watson : That’s tremendous, minister; I applaud you for it. But what was your original quote for the hospital when you went to the election? Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
In December 2007, the current Leader of the Opposition went down to Albany and the local paper reported him as saying that the Labor Party forgot hospitals. Mr E.S. Ripper : That was, of course, a lie. It’s shocking, but the person I met with actually lied. Dr K.D. HAMES : We should ask the member for Albany, who was at the meeting. There were a couple of others at the meeting. Obviously they were collective liars; there was not just one liar in this. There was a collective group of liars there. Three people at that meeting, including the mayor, said that he forgot. Two and a half years later there was still no sign of any plans, so who did the Labor Party blame? The bureaucrats. It was apparently the health department. Close to the election Mr Carpenter, who was Premier at the time, went to Albany to resurrect the hospital. He announced $50 million to upgrade the hospital. It was about this time that the then opposition happened to get a leaked report that went through a pile of different scenarios of what should happen at the hospital. One of them was the $50 million upgrade, but the recommended option was to build a new hospital—exactly what the Liberal Party promised in opposition before the 2008 election, and exactly what the former Minister for Health ridiculed and said was absolute nonsense. This was a report of a consultant group that had investigated what should happen with the hospital, and it recommended a brand-new hospital. As a good shadow minister, that is what I committed to: the Liberal Party would build a new hospital during our first term of government. Mr Carpenter said that design work would commence in March 2008 and tenders would be called for in October 2008. The Labor Party never got there. Mr Carpenter promised during the election campaign in 2008 to build a new hospital. So, in fact, there were no plans to do what was being promised that whole time of the Labor Party’s time in government. No plans were done but just before the election, to match our promise, Labor came in, dipped into the kitty and pulled out about $160 million to build the new hospital. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s because state debt was only $3.634 billion. It wasn’t heading for $23 billion. Dr K.D. HAMES : What has happened since then? We obviously won government. We had made a commitment to fast-track the hospital and to provide in the order of $170 million, not the $28 million of the Labor Party’s first weak effort. We committed $170 million for the hospital, and here are the pictures, members. A very large brand-new hospital; members can see the construction site there. Mr P.B. Watson : That’s tremendous, minister; I applaud you for it. But what was your original quote for the hospital when you went to the election? Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
Mr E.S. Ripper : That was, of course, a lie. It’s shocking, but the person I met with actually lied. Dr K.D. HAMES : We should ask the member for Albany, who was at the meeting. There were a couple of others at the meeting. Obviously they were collective liars; there was not just one liar in this. There was a collective group of liars there. Three people at that meeting, including the mayor, said that he forgot. Two and a half years later there was still no sign of any plans, so who did the Labor Party blame? The bureaucrats. It was apparently the health department. Close to the election Mr Carpenter, who was Premier at the time, went to Albany to resurrect the hospital. He announced $50 million to upgrade the hospital. It was about this time that the then opposition happened to get a leaked report that went through a pile of different scenarios of what should happen at the hospital. One of them was the $50 million upgrade, but the recommended option was to build a new hospital—exactly what the Liberal Party promised in opposition before the 2008 election, and exactly what the former Minister for Health ridiculed and said was absolute nonsense. This was a report of a consultant group that had investigated what should happen with the hospital, and it recommended a brand-new hospital. As a good shadow minister, that is what I committed to: the Liberal Party would build a new hospital during our first term of government. Mr Carpenter said that design work would commence in March 2008 and tenders would be called for in October 2008. The Labor Party never got there. Mr Carpenter promised during the election campaign in 2008 to build a new hospital. So, in fact, there were no plans to do what was being promised that whole time of the Labor Party’s time in government. No plans were done but just before the election, to match our promise, Labor came in, dipped into the kitty and pulled out about $160 million to build the new hospital. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s because state debt was only $3.634 billion. It wasn’t heading for $23 billion. Dr K.D. HAMES : What has happened since then? We obviously won government. We had made a commitment to fast-track the hospital and to provide in the order of $170 million, not the $28 million of the Labor Party’s first weak effort. We committed $170 million for the hospital, and here are the pictures, members. A very large brand-new hospital; members can see the construction site there. Mr P.B. Watson : That’s tremendous, minister; I applaud you for it. But what was your original quote for the hospital when you went to the election? Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
Dr K.D. HAMES : We should ask the member for Albany, who was at the meeting. There were a couple of others at the meeting. Obviously they were collective liars; there was not just one liar in this. There was a collective group of liars there. Three people at that meeting, including the mayor, said that he forgot. Two and a half years later there was still no sign of any plans, so who did the Labor Party blame? The bureaucrats. It was apparently the health department. Close to the election Mr Carpenter, who was Premier at the time, went to Albany to resurrect the hospital. He announced $50 million to upgrade the hospital. It was about this time that the then opposition happened to get a leaked report that went through a pile of different scenarios of what should happen at the hospital. One of them was the $50 million upgrade, but the recommended option was to build a new hospital—exactly what the Liberal Party promised in opposition before the 2008 election, and exactly what the former Minister for Health ridiculed and said was absolute nonsense. This was a report of a consultant group that had investigated what should happen with the hospital, and it recommended a brand-new hospital. As a good shadow minister, that is what I committed to: the Liberal Party would build a new hospital during our first term of government. Mr Carpenter said that design work would commence in March 2008 and tenders would be called for in October 2008. The Labor Party never got there. Mr Carpenter promised during the election campaign in 2008 to build a new hospital. So, in fact, there were no plans to do what was being promised that whole time of the Labor Party’s time in government. No plans were done but just before the election, to match our promise, Labor came in, dipped into the kitty and pulled out about $160 million to build the new hospital. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s because state debt was only $3.634 billion. It wasn’t heading for $23 billion. Dr K.D. HAMES : What has happened since then? We obviously won government. We had made a commitment to fast-track the hospital and to provide in the order of $170 million, not the $28 million of the Labor Party’s first weak effort. We committed $170 million for the hospital, and here are the pictures, members. A very large brand-new hospital; members can see the construction site there. Mr P.B. Watson : That’s tremendous, minister; I applaud you for it. But what was your original quote for the hospital when you went to the election? Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
Close to the election Mr Carpenter, who was Premier at the time, went to Albany to resurrect the hospital. He announced $50 million to upgrade the hospital. It was about this time that the then opposition happened to get a leaked report that went through a pile of different scenarios of what should happen at the hospital. One of them was the $50 million upgrade, but the recommended option was to build a new hospital—exactly what the Liberal Party promised in opposition before the 2008 election, and exactly what the former Minister for Health ridiculed and said was absolute nonsense. This was a report of a consultant group that had investigated what should happen with the hospital, and it recommended a brand-new hospital. As a good shadow minister, that is what I committed to: the Liberal Party would build a new hospital during our first term of government. Mr Carpenter said that design work would commence in March 2008 and tenders would be called for in October 2008. The Labor Party never got there. Mr Carpenter promised during the election campaign in 2008 to build a new hospital. So, in fact, there were no plans to do what was being promised that whole time of the Labor Party’s time in government. No plans were done but just before the election, to match our promise, Labor came in, dipped into the kitty and pulled out about $160 million to build the new hospital. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s because state debt was only $3.634 billion. It wasn’t heading for $23 billion. Dr K.D. HAMES : What has happened since then? We obviously won government. We had made a commitment to fast-track the hospital and to provide in the order of $170 million, not the $28 million of the Labor Party’s first weak effort. We committed $170 million for the hospital, and here are the pictures, members. A very large brand-new hospital; members can see the construction site there. Mr P.B. Watson : That’s tremendous, minister; I applaud you for it. But what was your original quote for the hospital when you went to the election? Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
Mr Carpenter said that design work would commence in March 2008 and tenders would be called for in October 2008. The Labor Party never got there. Mr Carpenter promised during the election campaign in 2008 to build a new hospital. So, in fact, there were no plans to do what was being promised that whole time of the Labor Party’s time in government. No plans were done but just before the election, to match our promise, Labor came in, dipped into the kitty and pulled out about $160 million to build the new hospital. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s because state debt was only $3.634 billion. It wasn’t heading for $23 billion. Dr K.D. HAMES : What has happened since then? We obviously won government. We had made a commitment to fast-track the hospital and to provide in the order of $170 million, not the $28 million of the Labor Party’s first weak effort. We committed $170 million for the hospital, and here are the pictures, members. A very large brand-new hospital; members can see the construction site there. Mr P.B. Watson : That’s tremendous, minister; I applaud you for it. But what was your original quote for the hospital when you went to the election? Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s because state debt was only $3.634 billion. It wasn’t heading for $23 billion. Dr K.D. HAMES : What has happened since then? We obviously won government. We had made a commitment to fast-track the hospital and to provide in the order of $170 million, not the $28 million of the Labor Party’s first weak effort. We committed $170 million for the hospital, and here are the pictures, members. A very large brand-new hospital; members can see the construction site there. Mr P.B. Watson : That’s tremendous, minister; I applaud you for it. But what was your original quote for the hospital when you went to the election? Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
Dr K.D. HAMES : What has happened since then? We obviously won government. We had made a commitment to fast-track the hospital and to provide in the order of $170 million, not the $28 million of the Labor Party’s first weak effort. We committed $170 million for the hospital, and here are the pictures, members. A very large brand-new hospital; members can see the construction site there. Mr P.B. Watson : That’s tremendous, minister; I applaud you for it. But what was your original quote for the hospital when you went to the election? Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
Mr P.B. Watson : That’s tremendous, minister; I applaud you for it. But what was your original quote for the hospital when you went to the election? Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
Dr K.D. HAMES : I think our quote was in the order of $130 million, $140 million. Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
Mr P.B. Watson : No, it wasn’t. Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
Dr K.D. HAMES : What did we do when we drew up the plan? Of all the members in this house, I do not think the member for Albany should be crying about having that new hospital on behalf his constituents. He should not be criticising whatever happens. What have we done? Through our royalties for regions fund we are able to top up that fund sufficiently to ensure we spend every dollar required to build the hospital. I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
I am happy to table these magnificent laminated pictures of the brand-new Albany Hospital, which will be concluded exactly as we promised at the end of our term in government. [See paper 4357.]
[See paper 4357.]
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