The ACT Greens have declared their opposition to the sale of Clare Holland House to the Little Company of Mary as part of the ACT Government's bid to buy Calvary Public Hospital, but refuse to say whether they will scuttle the deal when it reaches the Legislative Assembly.
The Canberra Times revealed yesterday that the Opposition would vote against the deal to buy Calvary Hospital for $77 million and sell Clare Holland House for $9 million.
The Government now needs the Greens' support to pass an appropriation Bill in the Assembly to pay for the transaction, but their support for the deal is waning in the face of strong opposition to the sale of the hospice among key stakeholders, including the ACT Palliative Care Society.
Greens health spokeswoman Amanda Bresnan said yesterday her party did not believe the hospice should be sold to a religious organisation, but refused to say whether the Greens would vote against the sale if the hospice remained part of the deal.''We would like to see it stay in Government hands; we would like LCM to be considering what comes out of the consultation process.
''We think it's really important to have a secular facility in the ACT, and it's a best-practice facility ... and that's what the public consultation is showing.''
The Greens will table today a motion in the Assembly asking the Little Company of Mary which currently operates Clare Holland House on behalf of the Government to reconsider the conditional link of the hospice to the sale of Calvary Hospital.
But Little Company of Mary chairman Tom Brennan reaffirmed the organisation's position that it would not sell the hospital unless it could buy the hospice. He said the hospice would be upgraded with part of the proceeds of the sale.