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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-11-12 Daily Xml
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Women's and Children's Hospital

The Hon. C. BONAROS (14:41): I seek leave to make a brief explanation—

The Hon. S.G. Wade interjecting:

The Hon. C. BONAROS: Don't laugh, minister.

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. C. BONAROS: —before asking the Minister for Health and Wellbeing a question about the Women's and Children's Hospital.

The PRESIDENT: What I heard out of that is that you're seeking leave.

The Hon. C. BONAROS: Yes.

Leave granted.

The Hon. C. BONAROS: To the insult of many clinicians and allied staff working on the frontline at the Women's and Children's Hospital, the minister this morning distributed a media release titled 'Budget Boost for Women's and Children's Hospital'. In it, the minister would have us believe the government is committing significant additional funds and resources to the hospital in this year's state budget.

The key takes out of the release are: funding for the hospital has hit the $300 million per annum mark; since the 2018 state election, an extra 155 FTE jobs have been created at the WCH; an additional $26 million in 2020-21 (up to $300 million from $274 million from the previous year) has been allocated to the Women's and Children's Hospital network; and the hospital is also undergoing a major $50 million capital works program, delivering a newly upgraded neonatal intensive care unit, theatres, paediatric emergency department, mental health ward and other structural and technical upgrades.

The disturbing part of the question is that there are frontline clinicians who simply don't believe it and they say the current WCH has received absolutely no new funding in the state budget. My question to the minister is:

1. In order to clear up all the confusion, can you please provide a comprehensive detailed list of where all the new 155 positions are?

2. Can you provide a comprehensive detailed account of where the $50 million in capital works has been spent?

3. Why is that $50 million even being mentioned as part of this year's budget when it has already been spent, if that's the case?

4. Can you provide a comprehensive detailed account of where the additional $26 million will be spent?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:43): In relation to the 155, that is a statement from the Auditor-General's Report is my understanding. In relation to the $50 million, I have made no assertion that that is a fresh allocation for this financial year. It is part of an ongoing commitment by this government to make sure the current facility stays fit for purpose in the period leading up to the opening up of the new Women's and Children's Hospital.

In terms of the $26 million, I refer the honourable member to Budget Paper No. 4, Volume 3, page 39, which highlights the $26 million. In terms of where that money is being spent, that is fundamentally a matter that is driven by the board of the Women's and Children's Hospital network. I will seek information from them and provide the information they provide to me as an answer to your question on notice.

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