THE Canberra Liberals have slammed the “appalling” announcement by the ACT Labor-Greens to forcibly acquire Calvary’s public hospital.

Acting opposition leader Jeremy Hanson has said the Liberals do not support this “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.”

Shadow Health Minister Leanne Castley said this decision could have serious ramifications for the health system in the ACT.

“The people that are drastically affected by this are the staff at Calvary who have clearly not been consulted before this announcement was made,” said Castley.

“The Health Minister must explain why it has been kept secret from the staff, and when Calvary was alerted about this draconian step to force them to sell.

“How can anyone trust doing business with this government when they have been developing secret legislation that obliterates a major provider of public services in the ACT, and enacts it with no notice.”

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