“The ACT Labor government has already served more than 21 years. It is highly unlikely that historians and archaeologists in another two millennia will be digging up the hospital and looking in wonder,” writes political columnist MICHAEL MOORE.

IT took the Romans a little more than six years to build a wall from coast to coast in England. It is taking the ACT government 20 years to rebuild The Canberra Hospital.

The Romans had six legions to do the job. At around 5000 men in a legion that is roughly 30,000 workers. The machinery they had was minimal and primitive by today’s standards. And yet, even at that time they were able to build a wall that was five metres high, about three metres across and close enough to 140 kilometres long.

The ACT Minister for Health, Rachel Stephen-Smith’s recent media statement includes “new state-of-the art facilities under the Canberra Hospital Master Plan that will transform the Hospital over the next 20 years”. 

Imagine Emperor Hadrian being told “we will get around to doing it in due time – say 20 years”.

The barbarians (from modern-day Scotland) would have seized the opportunity to overrun the garrisons. When Emperor Hadrian personally inspected his wall, he saw not only a defensive wall, but then state-of-the-art facilities including garrisons, hot baths for the soldiers and medical facilities in the middle of the camps. 

Granted, the Romans’ facilities were updated and modified over the next three centuries.

Perhaps the Health Minister drew her inspiration from something like this when she stated “the ACT government is continuing to transform the Canberra Hospital campus to support the ACT community into the future”. Then someone added a time frame of two decades.

Lessons have been learnt from the pandemic. In setting an “early priority” the minister identified “a new Pathology and Clinical Support Building”. One of the challenges of the “invasion” of the covid virus was ensuring appropriate surveillance and testing. The establishment of such facilities is an attempt akin to building a defensive wall. It is an investment in prevention.

The ACT government has awarded to EY a contract “to support continued planning for three new buildings for the campus”. Their job will be to work with the architects “to prepare functional designs, models of care and a business case for the new Pathology and Clinical Support Building as well as future inpatient buildings”. 

By comparison, the Romans, with little machinery, did have the expertise to build a wall that remained in place for many centuries. 

Emperor Hadrian was not an elected representative serving a four-year term. However, he did rule for 21 years. Labor has already served five terms of four years each. It is clear that there is an expectation that they will serve the ACT for another five terms while they complete their plans on the hospital.

I can almost hear Emperor Hadrian arguing that he put the lives of the soldiers first, ensuring they would be able to live in an environment safe from those pesky Scottish barbarians. He was building the appropriate infrastructure for the future needs of Rome and for the surrounding areas.

In a similar way the health minister boasted that she “puts patients first, creates a safe environment for our staff with more opportunities for professional development, and provides the right facilities to meet the future health needs of the ACT and surrounding region”.

The legacy of Emperor Hadrian remains to create wonder for historians and archaeologists some two millennia later. Although, it might be observed, the wall is not in good enough condition to serve its original purpose to keep those pesky Scots to themselves!

The ACT Labor government has already served more than 21 years. It is highly unlikely that historians and archaeologists in another two millennia will be digging up the hospital and looking in wonder.

However, they might find about 30 kilometres of tram line stretching all the way from Gungahlin to Woden and wonder at the achievement. No doubt, by then, they will stand in wonder and acknowledge that, despite the primitive tools, just how long it took to build such an edifice.

Michael Moore is a former member of the ACT Legislative Assembly and an independent minister for health. He has been a political columnist with “CityNews” since 2006.