The territory government will release the safety assessment of the cladding on Centenary Womens and Childrens Hospital, but has stopped short of pledging to release its ACT-wide cladding audit.
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Planning Minister Mick Gentlemen and Health Minister Meegan Fitzharris made the offer during debate on an Opposition motion on Wednesday.
![Planning Minister Mick Gentleman [centre] will release the safety assessment of Centenary Womens and Childrens Hospital. Photo: Rohan Thomson](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/58dc2ce9-7254-4c96-889d-cba13662dbcb/r0_0_2000_1330_w576_h298_fmax.webp "Planning Minister Mick Gentleman [centre] will release the safety assessment of Centenary Womens and Childrens Hospital. Photo: Rohan Thomson")
Work on the audit of territory government-owned buildings continues, but the government is still waiting on a Commonwealth audit of its buildings in Canberra, and has not yet committed to formal action on privately-owned buildings.
Deputy opposition leader Nicole Lawder had called on the government to release a series of reports including the safety assessment, ACT Health's audit of cladding on its buildings, and a report from the audit of all ACT government-owned buildings for cladding.
Mr Gentleman amended the motion to commit to releasing the ACT Health audit and the report on combustible cladding at the Centenary Hospital, but replaced the motion's call for the act-wide report with "an update" of that audit.
The amended motion passed with Greens support, with Mr Gentleman pledging to update the assembly on the work of the government's cladding working group, and provide the documents, in the October Legislative Assembly sittings.
Ms Lawder also asked when the five to 10 per cent of the Centenary hospital cladding would be replaced, citing concerns it was a safety risk.
But in a somewhat fiery response, Ms Fitzharris said the cladding would be replaced as soon as possible, but could not be removed without panels at the ready, given other concerns around removing the cladding.
She said the Opposition had been trying to create 'fear' in the community about the hospital, despite the fact it was safe and there were several other fire safety measures in place.
But Opposition health spokeswoman Vicki Dunne said the Opposition had been responding to genuine concerns, and Ms Lawder only wanted clarity around why the cladding had to be removed, if the panels were safe.
Greens leader Shane Rattenbury said he supported the government's amendment to the motion, but hit out at the Opposition for suggesting the hospital was "some sort of fire trap" when that was not case.
Ms Lawder said while she welcomed the government's changes 'for the most part', the question remained around non-compliant building products and she remained concerned that non-compliant panels were being used despite the territory's regulatory system.
