❓ Mr. McGowan questions the Treasurer about payments to Capella for the QEII Medical Centre car park project, despite a clause seemingly preventing compensation for demand impacts due to the New Children's Hospital construction. The Treasurer defends the payments, citing a prior agreement regarding access to parking bays under the delayed hospital.
AnsweredQoN 556Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
QUEEN ELIZABETH II MEDICAL CENTRE — CAR
PARKING
556. Mr M. McGOWAN to the Treasurer:
I refer to the ''Queen
Elizabeth II Medical Centre Car Parking Project: Project Summary'',
which states —
Capella will not be compensated for
events which affect demand for parking on the Site.
�
� such as the impact of the
construction of the New Children's Hospital �
Why is the state paying $500 000 per
month to Capella even though this clause is included in the project summary?
PARKING
556. Mr M. McGOWAN to the Treasurer:
I refer to the ''Queen
Elizabeth II Medical Centre Car Parking Project: Project Summary'',
which states —
Capella will not be compensated for
events which affect demand for parking on the Site.
�
� such as the impact of the
construction of the New Children's Hospital �
Why is the state paying $500 000 per
month to Capella even though this clause is included in the project summary?
AnswerView source ↗
The decision to contract out through
a public–private partnership the building of the car parking facility
was made some time ago. It has saved the state a substantial amount of money.
Mr
M. McGowan interjected.
Dr
M.D. NAHAN : It has.
Mr
M. McGowan : What about the clause in the project summary?
Dr
M.D. NAHAN : You asked a question; let me get to it.
Mr
M. McGowan : You're not answering.
Dr
M.D. NAHAN : Just hold on.
Mr
R.H. Cook : How much money has it saved?
The
SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Kwinana.
Dr
M.D. NAHAN : It allowed the state to avoid spending $120 million up-front.
It also required the Capella joint venture to contribute $2 million a year to
the QEII oversight facility—over the life of the project, $52 million.
It saved the state $120 million in up-front borrowing. If it was done in
government hands, it would have had to borrow the money and pay interest on
that money. If there was a slowdown in the receipt of parking money, the state
would have been out of pocket. It would have lost money from the failure of the
hospital to open. It would have lost money for that, and it would have been
basically worse off than the situation we have now.
Mr
F.M. Logan interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Cockburn, I call you to order for the first time.
Dr
M.D. NAHAN : The understanding at the time of the contract, as I understand
it, was if the hospital did not open on a certain date—1 July 2016—Capella
would be compensated for that loss of access to billable parking facilities.
Mr
M. McGowan : Why does the project summary say something different?
Dr M.D. NAHAN :
That is a rule and that is why the payment has been made. The payment has been
made because there was an agreement back in 2011 when the contract was signed
that Capella would have not only access to parking at its facility but also
under the Perth Children's Hospital. The understanding was that the
children's hospital would open on a certain date, and if Capella did
not have access to the 300-odd parking bays under the children's
hospital, it would be compensated for lack of access to those parking
facilities. That was part of the whole plan to fund the facility. That is why
the Department of Health is not compensated. I might add, if we did not go to a
Capella arrangement, we would have built it ourselves. We would have borrowed
the money —
Mr
W.J. Johnston interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Thank you. Member for Cannington, I call you to order for the
first time. Minister, a quick answer.
Mr
W.J. Johnston interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Cannington!
Dr
M.D. NAHAN : If we were to build the Capella —
Mr
W.J. Johnston interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Cannington, I call you to order for the second time.
Dr
M.D. NAHAN : If we had funded and built the car park ourselves, we would
have borrowed $120 million. If, as has happened, the hospital did not open on
time, we would have suffered the losses that Capella is currently suffering and
we would have been out of pocket as much.
a public–private partnership the building of the car parking facility
was made some time ago. It has saved the state a substantial amount of money.
Mr
M. McGowan interjected.
Dr
M.D. NAHAN : It has.
Mr
M. McGowan : What about the clause in the project summary?
Dr
M.D. NAHAN : You asked a question; let me get to it.
Mr
M. McGowan : You're not answering.
Dr
M.D. NAHAN : Just hold on.
Mr
R.H. Cook : How much money has it saved?
The
SPEAKER : Thank you, member for Kwinana.
Dr
M.D. NAHAN : It allowed the state to avoid spending $120 million up-front.
It also required the Capella joint venture to contribute $2 million a year to
the QEII oversight facility—over the life of the project, $52 million.
It saved the state $120 million in up-front borrowing. If it was done in
government hands, it would have had to borrow the money and pay interest on
that money. If there was a slowdown in the receipt of parking money, the state
would have been out of pocket. It would have lost money from the failure of the
hospital to open. It would have lost money for that, and it would have been
basically worse off than the situation we have now.
Mr
F.M. Logan interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Cockburn, I call you to order for the first time.
Dr
M.D. NAHAN : The understanding at the time of the contract, as I understand
it, was if the hospital did not open on a certain date—1 July 2016—Capella
would be compensated for that loss of access to billable parking facilities.
Mr
M. McGowan : Why does the project summary say something different?
Dr M.D. NAHAN :
That is a rule and that is why the payment has been made. The payment has been
made because there was an agreement back in 2011 when the contract was signed
that Capella would have not only access to parking at its facility but also
under the Perth Children's Hospital. The understanding was that the
children's hospital would open on a certain date, and if Capella did
not have access to the 300-odd parking bays under the children's
hospital, it would be compensated for lack of access to those parking
facilities. That was part of the whole plan to fund the facility. That is why
the Department of Health is not compensated. I might add, if we did not go to a
Capella arrangement, we would have built it ourselves. We would have borrowed
the money —
Mr
W.J. Johnston interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Thank you. Member for Cannington, I call you to order for the
first time. Minister, a quick answer.
Mr
W.J. Johnston interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Cannington!
Dr
M.D. NAHAN : If we were to build the Capella —
Mr
W.J. Johnston interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Cannington, I call you to order for the second time.
Dr
M.D. NAHAN : If we had funded and built the car park ourselves, we would
have borrowed $120 million. If, as has happened, the hospital did not open on
time, we would have suffered the losses that Capella is currently suffering and
we would have been out of pocket as much.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.