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Calvary inquiry needs to respect territory rights

David Pocock

A BID to establish a Senate inquiry into the ACT government’s forced acquisition of Calvary Public Hospital has failed.

Independent ACT senator David Pocock said the acquisition has raised concerns, as he sought to amend the motion by instead asking that an inquiry be held at a territory level.

Pocock noted comments from the ACT Branch of the Australian Medical Association opposing any federal inquiry and said the primary focus needs to be on improving health services delivery across the territory.

“I have had some Canberrans raise concerns with me about the acquisition of Calvary and have passed on those concerns to the ACT Chief Minister and Health Minister,” he said.

“I have also requested they consider conducting an inquiry in the Legislative Assembly into the handling of the acquisition and the impacts it will have on peoples’ access to healthcare in our city and our region.

“Canberrans want and deserve a better healthcare system than what we have currently and that’s what we need to focus our energy on delivering.”

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3 Responses to Calvary inquiry needs to respect territory rights

jennifer manson says: 19 June 2023 at 11:45 am

Pocock is doing a brilliant job for Canberrans, raising our profile and ensuring that we’re not dismissed.

The Feds need to remember that they gave up their right to interfere in local politics when they forced the ACT into self-government. They must stop interfering and acting like they’re entitled to use us as a political toy or tool for their own purposes.

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Hamba says: 19 June 2023 at 4:07 pm

Pocock knows full well that the territory will never allow an inquiry to happen. Labor and the Greens unanimously voted to let the bill be passed without any scrutiny, and the Labor and Greens members of the Public Accounts Committee both voted to block a public inquiry. Clearly, Labor and the Greens are terrified of any scrutiny of this power-grab.

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Curious Canberran says: 23 June 2023 at 3:29 pm

In relation to Mr. Pocock’s view; the ACT/NT combined has around 686,000 people, compared to Q’Land with 5.15M, NSW 8.1M, Vic 6.5M and the smallest state SA, over 2.5 times ACT/NT – I don’t think we can justify a 3x increase in senators for the ACT. Not least of all like Mr. Pocock who had virtually nothing to say about the Calvary Hospital take-over. His best efforts of ‘representation’ for Canberrans (CN 15th June) was:
“…some Canberrans raise concerns… and have passed on those concerns to the ACT Chief Minister….” he said. And; “I have also requested they consider conducting an inquiry…” Well I think that’s weak as water.

We now actually have a Queensland Senator (Mr. Caravan), with a sucessful bill for an inquiry to be held about Calvary while Mr Pocock seems to be more interested in broadening the political base rather than getting involved in a major issue here in the ACT. I think that tells us all we need to know Mr Pocock.

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