Archbishop Prowse assures Calvary staff that he ‘stands with them’ as Bill passed
From left; Calvary chief executive Martin Bowles, Catholic Archbishop Christopher Prowse and ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith
Legislation giving the government the power to forcibly acquire Calvary Public Hospital passed the ACT Legislative Assembly on Wednesday.
Archbishop Christopher Prowse said the “draconian” Health Infrastructure Enabling Bill had been enacted without regard or respect for staff, patients or the citizens of Canberra.
“The government exempted this Act from the oversight of other ACT Acts and avoided the scrutiny of a public inquiry,” he said.
“I want to assure the staff of Calvary that I stand with them and will continue to seek that their voices be heard, and their concerns understood.
“This compulsory acquisition places all Canberrans in uncertainty.”
The Bill was the subject of fierce debate in parliament, with Acting Opposition leader Jeremy Hanson saying the Canberra Liberals opposed the ‘disruptive bill’ in every possible way.
“We oppose it on health grounds, we oppose it legally and we oppose it ethically,” he said.
“This bill tramples over staff, it tramples over trust and tramples over our democratic principles and over common sense.”
Mr Hanson said the petition against the takeover, which currently has more than 33,000 signatures, was being ignored.
“It is impossible not to conclude that there is an element that involves an attack on faith,” he said.
“Whether Mr Barr denies it or not, that is how the people of many faiths are feeling.”
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the acquisition was essential, with the northside of Canberra projected to grow by at least another 200,000 people by 2060.
The government plans to allocate more than $1 billion towards a new hospital in Bruce at the existing Calvary site, with construction to start as soon as 2025.
Head of the Save Calvary Taskforce Fr Tony Percy, however, said the motivation for the takeover is clearly not financial.
“The Calvary system built a hospital, a beautiful new private hospital in Adelaide with 342 beds for $350 million, and the government said they’re going to build a hospital here for a billion,” he said.
“It’ll be more than that. So, they’ll be far better off saving $500 million by letting Calvary build the hospital and spend half a billion dollars on other services in Canberra. I bet that would be a welcome decision.”
On Tuesday, Calvary chief executive Martin Bowles said the organisation would have no choice but to take legal action.
“We believe that it is an invalid piece of legislation, and we will challenge that in the courts,” he said.
“Our review of the proposed legislation and associated regulation indicates that just terms are simply not available and outside of this, there is no indication that commercial terms are available to resolve this matter.”
Calvary will be seeking an injunction in either the Federal or High Court.
If the proposed new hospital is “essential” to cope with population growth on the Northside of Canberra, why can’t it be built in the far north? In Gungahlin, for example?
It doesn’t make sense that one functioning hospital with a good reputation for medical care be replaced ‘in situ’ which can only mean that medical care will not be available for two to three years.
Respectfully
J P Quigley
There is something amiss in today’s society if anyone believes this action by a government in Australia is okay. It’s a sad day for our democracy.
This is just another strategy incorporated by Satan to rid our God’s true Catholic religion from our societies and eventually the world.
The ACT government and the Prime Minister has now alienated previous, current and future patients, labour supporters, the Catholic Church and many other faiths who see this as a precedent for the future.
Thank you for your continued, fair and informative reporting on this situation. Great work!
As a Christian who practices his faith in the Anglican church I am compelled to express my support for the Catholic church in its opposition to this appalling proposal that the ACT government compulsorily acquire Calvary hospital in Canberra. This is an poorly disguised attack on our Christian faith and our stance on abortion and euthanasia. If this is allowed to proceed, where next? All of our faith-based institutions are at risk unless we all stand firm in our opposition and make our voices heard.
This move by ACT government is no surprise. Anyone who believes ACT govt or the territory courts follows the law is living under a very big rock. Faith,community and family based rights do not exist either in the territory. As euthanasia, state guardianship, coercion of vulnerable people ramps up.. be very afraid.