Submissions close 17 July 2023, so you must be quick.
You can write a submission in your own words, but below are some points to assist you.
- If you want your submission to be kept confidential, write “Confidential” at the beginning of your email.
- Begin by saying that you are making a submission to the inquiry into the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Amendment Bill 2023.
- Say that you support the passage of the bill for the following reasons:
- There were only three weeks between the ACT Government announcing the takeover of Calvary Hospital and the law passing parliament. The short timeframe meant that there was insufficient public scrutiny of the bill;
- Normal parliamentary standing orders would require the ACT Government to hold a two-month inquiry into the bill before it could be debated and voted upon. The ACT Government dispensed with these and rushed through the bill without an inquiry. This bill will put in place an inquiry similar to the one that they should have conducted anyway;
- Governments should not expect that they can throw standard democratic processes away and not be held to account. This bill would provide some accountability;
- The evidence does not support the reasons the ACT Government provided to justify the takeover. The Government said it was about providing a better service, but a March 2019 review was scathing about the culture and the services of Canberra Hospital, the government-run hospital. Calvary has also demonstrated that it is a more cost-effective health provider than the Government;
- There is an unresolved question as to how much of the Government’s decision was religiously motivated and the public has a right to know if religious discrimination was a factor;
- The public needs to have confidence in its elected representatives. The circumstances surrounding the takeover do not inspire trust in the Government and an inquiry might assist in restoring that trust.
The email only needs to be brief, but you must send one to show your support.
Email your submission to legcon.sen@aph.gov.au by Monday, 17 July 2023.
Thank you for helping to bring light to such a dark situation.
To whom it may concern, I support an inquiry into the takeover of Calvary Hospital by the ACT Government. Due process was not applied to this legislation. The government is required to represent the people that make up the ACT and consultation wiith the people was not carried out in the appropriate manner essentially eliminated the people’s opportunity to speak with their elected representatives to voice their concerns. Communism acquires private assets, I thought we lived in a representative democratic where the government seeks to determine the people’s concerns and then represents them. Never has our democracy been threatened in such an agregious way by compulsory acquiring private assets because they don’t conform to the latest ill-fate narrative of the left. All parliamentarians should be ashamed of themselves for not stopping this totalitarianism it is a complete travesty.
Just been in Covid ICU in Canberra Hospital. The care was substandard. I had severe case of diarhea and the toilet was not cleansed in 5 or 6 days. Nurse calls took over an hour or more to get a response even though I did not call except in emergencies. And these people took over Calvary, a well run hospital, removing its cross as soon as the next day. Hate to think of Clare Holland House!