❓ Opposition questions the Minister for Health about the timeline and budget allocation for the new women's and babies' hospital, citing a missed election commitment. The Minister responds by outlining the planning phase, upgrades to the existing hospital, and overall investment in women's health.
AnsweredQoN 70Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
WOMEN'S AND BABIES' HOSPITAL
70. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
Yesterday, the Minister for Health
was unable to answer a simple question about upgrades to King Edward Memorial
Hospital for Women and said that these works were no indication of a time line
for the new women's and babies' hospital.
(1) Given that it
was an election commitment that works would commence in 2023, why was the
minister unable to advise when construction will commence and be completed?
(2) Why is there no funding in the
budget across any year for the construction of this facility?
70. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Health:
Yesterday, the Minister for Health
was unable to answer a simple question about upgrades to King Edward Memorial
Hospital for Women and said that these works were no indication of a time line
for the new women's and babies' hospital.
(1) Given that it
was an election commitment that works would commence in 2023, why was the
minister unable to advise when construction will commence and be completed?
(2) Why is there no funding in the
budget across any year for the construction of this facility?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) The
Leader of the Liberal Party might be interested to know that even the company
that will be building the hospital does not know that it will be building it
yet, because we have not actually put the project to tender. We are in the planning phase. The member may well know, or she
may not, that we get a completion date when we issue the tender. We are
in the planning and consultation phase of this project. I have made no issue
about that. That is an important part of the project.
I
can tell the member how much the upgrades to King Edward Memorial Hospital for
Women will cost. I am happy to own that I cannot keep every single
figure in my head. We have a record infrastructure program in Western Australia—a record infrastructure
program—and I cannot keep every single figure in my head, because I am
only human, but I have found out that information. I am pleased to tell the
member that the former commonwealth
Liberal–National government provided $15.2 million—that was
announced by Greg Hunt and former
Senator Mathias Cormann—and the state government provided an additional
$19.5 million for those upgrades to King Edward Memorial Hospital. There was a lot
of discussion at that time from former Senator Cormann and the former federal
health minister about keeping King Eddy's in fit shape and tip-top
whilst the women's and newborns' hospital was being built.
These are important works. As I said, 5 000 babies are born every single year
in our state's premier maternity hospital. It is this government that
is investing in women's health, with $1.7 billion in the budget to
build the new women's and newborns' hospital. As part of that,
we are looking at models of care and putting women at the centre of those
models of care and ensuring that it will be the kind of maternity hospital that
will not only deliver the best maternity services, but is also the centre for
best practice women's health services in Western Australia.
Leader of the Liberal Party might be interested to know that even the company
that will be building the hospital does not know that it will be building it
yet, because we have not actually put the project to tender. We are in the planning phase. The member may well know, or she
may not, that we get a completion date when we issue the tender. We are
in the planning and consultation phase of this project. I have made no issue
about that. That is an important part of the project.
I
can tell the member how much the upgrades to King Edward Memorial Hospital for
Women will cost. I am happy to own that I cannot keep every single
figure in my head. We have a record infrastructure program in Western Australia—a record infrastructure
program—and I cannot keep every single figure in my head, because I am
only human, but I have found out that information. I am pleased to tell the
member that the former commonwealth
Liberal–National government provided $15.2 million—that was
announced by Greg Hunt and former
Senator Mathias Cormann—and the state government provided an additional
$19.5 million for those upgrades to King Edward Memorial Hospital. There was a lot
of discussion at that time from former Senator Cormann and the former federal
health minister about keeping King Eddy's in fit shape and tip-top
whilst the women's and newborns' hospital was being built.
These are important works. As I said, 5 000 babies are born every single year
in our state's premier maternity hospital. It is this government that
is investing in women's health, with $1.7 billion in the budget to
build the new women's and newborns' hospital. As part of that,
we are looking at models of care and putting women at the centre of those
models of care and ensuring that it will be the kind of maternity hospital that
will not only deliver the best maternity services, but is also the centre for
best practice women's health services in Western Australia.
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