THE Archbishop of Canberra-Goulburn, Christopher Prowse, is reported to be “totally stunned and shocked” by the ACT government’s decision to forcibly acquire the Catholic-owned Calvary Public Hospital.

He said it came “without warning or discussion”, according to the “Catholic Weekly”.

The hospital has been objecting to the provision of elective abortions and opposing the introduction of assisted suicide in the ACT.

Australian Christian Lobby’s ACT director Rob Norman called it an “authoritarian”, “Soviet-style” takeover of non-government assets.

“Clearly, the ACT government has no tolerance for religious convictions that oppose the will of the State,” he said.

“The real problem here is the draconian laws that force medical providers and hospitals to facilitate the intentional taking of human life against their Biblically held values.”

Negotiations with the owners of Calvary Health Care have broken down and the ACT government has announced it will forcibly acquire the Calvary Public Hospital site in Bruce.

It will introduce the Health Infrastructure Enabling Bill 2023 into the Legislative Assembly on Thursday, which will enable it to acquire the Calvary Public Hospital land and transition existing Calvary staff and assets to the territory.

It has simultaneously announced it will also build a $1 billion new northside hospital “mid decade”, which will be owned by the ACT government and operated by Canberra Health Services.

A provision of more than $1 billion will be included in the 2023‑24 ACT Budget to deliver the new hospital.

Acting Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson describes the move on the hospital as “outrageous thuggery” by the Chief Minister and Health Minister, that has been done in secret, with no consultation.

“The Canberra Liberals are appalled by this announcement; Calvary are rightly angry and the fact the government have decided to forcibly acquire the best performing part of ACT Health is outrageous,” said Hanson.

“The fact that there is a contract in place that was signed by the current operator in 2011 with 76 years still to run, the payout of this will run into the hundreds of millions of dollars for Canberra taxpayers.

“The Labor-Greens government must be upfront with Canberrans and say how much this will cost.

“What this highlights is that a Royal Commission into ACT Health services is a necessity and this acquisition needs to be in the terms of reference.”