Canberra's new women and children's hospital will be completed more than six months late and more than $20 million over budget, the ACT Government has acknowledged.
Chief Minister Katy Gallagher said the hospital would be better and more up-to-date than first envisaged but the Canberra Liberals have accused Ms Gallagher of delivering ''half a hospital''. The commitment to build the new Women's and Children's hospital was announced in 2008-09 with a budget of $90million.
The 2008-09 budget papers indicated a completion date of June 2012 but a spokeswoman for Ms Gallagher, who also holds the health portfolio, said this week that Stage 1 was expected to be completed by mid-2012 and Stage 2 was due to be completed in early 2013.
The total appropriated budget for the project has blown out to $111million, but the minister's office says that much of the extra money will be spent incorporating state-of-the-art design features.
''Since then a number of design changes were announced to include the latest design features, such as single rooms, higher environmental standards, and incorporation of the latest information and communications technologies into the design,'' a spokeswoman said. ''The revised scope was announced in 2009 following a study tour of cutting edge health facilities in Scandinavia as well as an increase in the budget.''
An inflationary environment in the building industry had also played a part in the budget blow-out, according to the spokeswoman.
''Other factors - other than the change to scope - outside of our control include changes in market conditions, national shortages of specialist construction workers and large volume of work for sub-contractors in the region,'' she said.
''There have also been some program delays associated with weather conditions which mean completion of early works and construction programming has been slightly affected.''
But Liberals' health spokesman Jeremy Hanson accused Ms Gallagher of telling half-truths and of taking a ''European tour''.
''What we are seeing from Katy Gallagher today is half the truth about half a hospital,'' Mr Hanson said.
''She has confirmed that the Women's and Children's hospital promised at the last election is running over $21 million over budget and will be completed over a year late.
''Katy Gallagher should take direct responsibility for much of this delay and cost blow out by demanding changes be made to the design of the hospital after the project had started and following her European tour,'' he said.
Mr Hanson accused the Government of planning a sham opening of the hospital as an election stunt.
''What we will see open at some stage before the election this year Katy Gallagher open half a hospital with the rest to be opened sometime in the future,'' the Liberals frontbencher said.
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